Environmental Engineering Reference
In-Depth Information
All eight poachers had been poisoning birds for more than fi ve years. Five of the poachers claimed
that poaching birds was their sole source of income. Every poacher named Furadan as their poison
of choice. Two of the poachers indicated they had attempted to use a silvery granulated compound
that had replaced Furadan during July 2009. From their description we suspect that the pesticide in
question was Mocap (which contained the organophosphorus compound ethoprop). Both stated that
the compound was pungent and repelled rather than poisoned the birds. Further, this other pesticide
gave the poachers respiratory problems, which they did not appreciate.
All the poachers stated they were aware of the toxicity of Furadan. However, they also claimed
that washing their hands and specially preparing the carcasses before eating eliminates any residues
of carbofuran. Indeed, once a bird is poisoned, the entrails are removed, the bird is hung to drain the
fl uids then it is slow heated and partially roasted in the traditional manner, as with animals killed
with poisoned arrows. After this process, the birds are cooked and eaten. Poachers interviewed dur-
ing the second phase of interview (after we had conducted the educational component) knew that
Furadan affects the central nervous system. Despite this, all still held fi rmly to the belief that drain-
ing/heat treatment prior to consumption 'detoxifi ed' a carcass.
During the fi rst phase of questionnaire administration, some of the poachers said their poaching
frequency varied, depending on need. They stated that they would poison daily, especially during
the rice planting season (which varies depending on the rains). One specialist poacher who targeted
doves and pigeons stated that he poached seasonally, during the two months or so that rice was
harvested, when the number of birds in the irrigation fi elds was greatest. At other times he made his
living as a self-trained electronics repairman. The fi fth poacher said he poisoned birds daily.
Four of the fi ve poachers stated that they poisoned the African openbill as a priority, but also
waders and seedeaters if the wild storks had become imprinted against, or habituated to, the decoy
birds. The fi fth poacher focused on poisoning doves and pigeons, but like the rest also poached wad-
ers and seedeaters opportunistically. Specialising in baits and species reduces confl ict, because even if
intoxicated birds crossed into adjacent poisoning 'territories', poachers tend to respect the fact that it
is another's quarry, providing it is not the same species they are targeting. In that case, disputes
between poachers arise for quarry. All fi ve respondents used the same cost scale for poisoned birds,
i.e., highest prices for larger birds such as openbill, and lower prices for the smaller waders and seed-
eaters (e.g., pigeons, doves, pipits, widowbirds, weavers), as summarised in Table 3.9.
Due to the adverse publicity from the international community and a resultant (attempted) buy-
back by FMC, the manufacturer, the price of Furadan rose sharply during the study period. In the fi rst
part of the study, while the chemical was still readily available, it cost approximately 100 Kenyan
Shillings (1.25 USD) per 200 gram pack. At the end of the study the product was not easily avail-
able and the price had risen to approximately 800 KSh (10 USD) which resulted in a corresponding
increase in the prices of preferred species (African openbill, doves/pigeons, sandpipers, widowbirds/
weavers/pipits). The reader will note that even with the price hikes, the cost of bird meat ranged from
a value of 0 to approximately 5 USD.
Consumers' responses
During the fi rst phase of the questionnaires/interviews, two respondents
stated that they ate wild bird meat daily; one was the wife of a poacher and the other was a primary
school class 6 child (aged approximately 11). Sixty consumers responded that they purchased bird
meat opportunistically, when the poachers/vendors came by with the meat or when they found it for
sale at the local market. In the second phase, 112 respondents out of 180 stated that they purchased
bird meat opportunistically whereas 68 refused to answer the question of how frequently they con-
sumed birds. None said that they fed on poisoned bird meat because no other source of protein was
available, which was among the options provided in the questionnaire.
In the fi rst phase of questionnaires/interviews, 19 of 62 consumers (i.e., 31%) stated that they
preferred bird meat to other sources of protein while in the second phase 29 out of 180 (i.e. 16%)
preferred it. All the respondents were also aware that the birds were obtained from the wild and
poisoned with Furadan, but they maintained that draining fl uids from the carcasses by slow roasting
Search WWH ::
Custom Search