A chronicling of long-standing carbofuran use and its menace to wildlife in Kenya - Carbofuran and Wildlife Poisoning: Global Perspectives and Forensic Approaches - page 39

3 A chronicling of long-standing
carbofuran use and its menace
to wildlife in Kenya
3.1 Introduction
Joseph O. Lalah, 1 Peter O. Otieno, 2, 3 Ngaio Richards 4, 5
1 Department of Chemical Sciences and Technology, School of Applied Sciences
and Technology, Kenya Polytechnic University College, P.O. Box 52428-00200
City Square, Nairobi
2 Department of Chemistry, Maseno University, P.O Box 333, 40105, Maseno,
Kenya
3 Institute of Ecological Chemistry, Helmholtz Zentrum München, Ingolstädter
Landstraße 1, D-85764 Neuherberg, Germany
4 Working Dogs for Conservation, 52 Eustis Road, Three Forks, Montana, 59752
5 Department of Life Sciences, Anglia Ruskin University, East Road, Cambridge
CB1 1PT, United Kingdom
Africa has long been alluring to foreign visitors, particularly those intent on seeing the 'big fi ve'
(i.e., lions, elephant, rhinoceros, buffalo and leopard) on safari, or on bringing back a memento from
a hunting expedition. Most visitors expect to fi nd an entirely 'wild' landscape, as often depicted in
nature fi lms, whereas in fact there is now an extreme contrast between the protected and unpro-
tected areas. In some protected areas (e.g., the Mara) the settlements literally reach the doorsteps
of the reserves. The core issue is the growth of the human population and subsequent movement
everywhere, to the point where many wildlife corridors and buffer areas are completely dominated
by people. The expansion and emigration of people and agriculture into previously vacant areas near
parklands and protected areas has considerably intensifi ed the human-wildlife confl ict, which in turn
has resulted in a number of retaliatory measures.