Poisoning drives vulture decline in Masai Mara, Kenya {wildlife preserve} (BBC)

[eppur_se_muova]

By Victoria Gill
Science and nature reporter, BBC News

Vulture populations in one of Africa's most important wildlife reserves have declined by 60%, say scientists.

The researchers suggest that the decline of vultures in Kenya's Masai Mara is being driven by poisoning.

The US-based Peregrine Fund says farmers occasionally lace the bodies of dead cattle or goats with a toxic pesticide called furadan.

This appears to be aimed at carnivores that kill the livestock, but one carcass can poison up to 150 vultures.

Munir Virani, who is director of the Peregrine Fund's Africa programmes, has called for use of furadan to be banned in the region "to preserve these keystone members of the scavenging community".
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more: http://news.bbc.co.uk/earth/hi/earth_news/newsid_9290000/9290103.stm




"Sixty Minutes" did a story on furadan poisining of lions last year:

It seemed clear from stores 60 Minutes visited that shopkeepers knew Furadan was not only used on crops. In fact, some stores which stocked Furadan were in areas where there wasn't a crop for miles.

In its granular form, Furadan is banned in Europe and the United Kingdom; it is severely restricted in the United States. Just a tiny amount from a $2 bottle is enough to kill an entire pride of lions.

Furadan, even when used as directed, is estimated to have wiped out millions of birds in the United States and poses unacceptable risks to human health. That's why the Environmental Protection Agency is in the process of banning it.

But in Africa, Furadan is perfectly legal as a pesticide. However, when the granules are sprinkled on carcasses, any animal that feeds on them will die. And not just lions - hyenas, leopards, jackals, vultures and other birds die in droves.

http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2009/03/26/60minutes/main4894945.shtml

Google "furadan poison" to get some idea how big this problem is.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Carbofuran for basic info on Furadan.