Environmental Engineering Reference
In-Depth Information
Table 4.7 details poisoning incidences in wildlife in different parts of the country.
Venkataramanan, Sreekumar, Kalaivanan et al. (2008) recently confi rmed that carbofuran was used
to poison a leopard (
Panthera pardus
) in the Nilgiri Biosphere Reserve. The leopard in question
was known to have killed several cattle. Subsequently, the carcass of a cow was laced with Furadan
granules. An empty Furadan bag discovered in a bush adjacent to the cow carcass provided cir-
cumstantial evidence. Muscle tissue from the thigh region of the baited cow carcass, stomach
contents, liver and kidney from the leopard carcass and washes from the empty cover all contained
traces of (unmetabolised) carbofuran (Venkataramanan, Sreekumar, Kalaivanan et al. 2008). This
was confi rmed through chemical analyses at the State Regional Forensic Laboratory (RFSL) in
Coimbatore, Tamil Nadu.
In another investigation, into the death of 53 bonnet macaques (
Macaca radiata
, 32 males and
21 females) at Pudukottai, Tamil Nadu, carbofuran poisoning was shown to be the cause of death
(Report 2005). A group of monkeys, which were damaging a ground nut crop, were poisoned by a
farmer. First, the monkeys were acclimatised to feeding on a mixture of rice fl our, jaggery (crude
sugar) and mashed ground nut. Once the monkeys were accustomed to this mixture, it was laced
with carbofuran. Tissues from the monkey carcasses tested at the State Regional Forensic Science
Laboratory, Trichy in Tamil Nadu, were positive for (unmetabolised) carbofuran (Report 2005).
Other wildlife related incidents, including those involving additional agents, are presented in Table 4.6,
which shows that OPC pesticides have been extensively used for poisoning. Gureja, Menon,
Sarkar et al. (2002) reported on an incident at Nameri National Park and Tezpur, Assam in which
22 elephants were suspected to have been poisoned. Fourteen of these were confi rmed to have been
poisoned with the OPC demecron. On one side of one of the dead elephants, the words 'paddy
thief Bin Laden' had been written with white paint in Assamese (the local language) as an expres-
sion of anger. The elephants were attracted by country-made liquor and ripe pumpkins. These treats
were used as bait and laced with demecron, which was readily available in fertiliser shops (Gureja,
Menon, Sarkar et al. 2002). Cheeran (2007) has also reported that 49 elephants were killed by poi-
soning in different States across India. Assam sustained 29 deaths, the highest number among the
11 States listed.
Talukdar, Haziraka and Buragohain (2006) have also documented the deliberate poisoning of
whistling teals (
Dendrocygna javanica
) for human consumption in Bokakhat, Assam. These birds
were poisoned by paddy impregnated with quinal phosphate, which slows the birds' refl exes and
makes them lethargic. The toxin is reportedly non-lethal to humans.
In another incident, in April 2010, the highly putrefi ed carcass of a sloth bear was found on a
tea estate in the Coonoor Range in Udhagamandalam, Tamil Nadu. The maggots collected from the
carcass, and the fl uid mixed with soil beneath the carcass tested positive for methyl-isoparathion at
the Regional Forensic Science Laboratory, Coimbatore (Report 2010). This incident highlighted the
importance of analysing maggots to confi rm poisoning as a cause of death when working with highly
putrefi ed carcasses (see also Chapter 3, Section 3.7).
Malicious poisoning does not end with the target animal, but can also affect other wildlife via
secondary poisoning. Scavengers and carrion-eaters like vultures (
Gyps
spp.), crows (
Corvus splen-
dens
), black kites (
Milvus migrans
), Brahminy kites (
Haliastur indus
) and hyena (
Hyaena hyaena
)
are the most common non-target species that bear the brunt of secondary poisoning. A recent news
report by the Wildlife Trust of India (WTI) described the death of a number of Himalayan griffon
vultures (
Gyps himalayensis
), slender-billed vultures (
G. tenuirostris
) and white-rumped vultures
(
G. bengalensis
) due to secondary poisoning with unreported pesticides (WTI News Report 2009).
In one incident, the vultures were killed after consuming the carcass of a dog poisoned by local peo-
ple. The dog had killed a goat in the village and the family retaliated by lacing the goat carcass with
a pesticide. Vultures then scavenged on the carcasses of both the dog and the goat. Twenty-one birds
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