FMC’s Ban of Furadan In Kenya: Good Judgement or Just PR?

Something interesting happened last week. On Sunday 29 March 2009, CBS News aired a documentary on 60 Minutes showing how lions were dying in the Masai Mara ecosystem due to Furadan poisoning. Almost immediately after that the American manufacturer of the potent agricultural pesticide, FMC, issued a press release declaring that they had withdrawn it from Kenya and other African countries. They even called the WildlifeDirect chairman, Dr Richard Leakey to tell him of their action.

Furadan as it is sold in Kenya

WildlifeDirect has been running a campaign against the sale of Furadan in  Kenya through the Stop Wildlife Poisoning blog because of its rampant abuse by herders and farmers to poison wildlife. Kenyan authorities have largely ignored this campaign. FMC, and Juanco – the products importers in Kenya – have not been very responsive either.

A lion goes through the stages of paralysis after consuming a carcase laced with Furadan in Masai Mara, Kenya

Furadan is a highly effective agricultural pesticide but a very nasty poison for mammals and birds. It has been responsible for the death of large numbers of birds in the USA where its granular form is banned (it also comes in flowable or liquid form). In Kenya, it has been used to kill birds thought to be crop pests and for human food! It is also being used to kill lions, hyenas and other predators that are, or are percieved to be, preying on livestock.

The question is, did FMC ban exportation of this lethal poison because they are suddenly pious or they are just playing PR? My hypothesis is that FMC, having realized that Furadan has suddenly been identified as a poison of choice for herders, and this happened in popular American media, FMC took the obvious route: damage control. They don’t want to look bad. Why did they have to wait until the 60 Minutes for them to do something about this major problem in Africa? It is hard to believe that they did not know about the problem. If that is so, then they need to fire their entire PR team.

This is just an hypothesis and should not be read to mean that I dont support their action. If it works, then it will indeed have a phenomenal positive effect on lion population in Kenya and elsewhere.

I say if it works for this reason: when I updated my followers on Twitter on this turn of events, recycleme replied ‘what about the surrounding countries? Is it likely to get into Kenya from the countries still using it?’. I got worried.

We hope that FMC are serious about their pronouncement and they will follow it through. That they will also seal the loopholes spotted by recycleme and others.

How to Tree a Lion: Lessons from Samburu buffaloes

Samburu buffaloes is not the name of a rugby team but it might as well have been. The same manner in which a rugby player would charge through the opponents is the same way some three buffaloes tore through the thickets at Samburu Buffalo Springs wildlife reserve chasing after some rather alarmed male lions sometime last month.

Unfamiliar territory: Picture (c)Ewaso Lions

This story is told in the Ewaso Lions blog and it really cracked me up when I read it. I had forgoten how hilarious wildlife encounters can be: especially when the hunter becomes the hunted.

Apparently, the blogger was going on her business when all of a sudden two lions zoomed past ahead of her vehicle. In hot pursuit was a trio of huge buffaloes breathing fire and brimstone. The pair of lions, the burly buffaloes in their tail, disappeared into the thicket at the opposite side just as fast as they had come. The blogger proceeded to follow them and on rounding a corner, found one of the lions up a tree with one of the buffaloes glaring at him from below the tree. The other lion was seen disappearing in the distance with the rest of the buffalo team in pursuit. The buffalo that was keeping vigil of the treed lion got bored and headed towards where real action was.

I read in the blog that the blogger followed the action further only to discover a third lion – not any of the flying two – up a tree. Her prognosis is that the new lion must have freaked out when the commotion of the chase tumbled through the shady spot he was napping at.

Now everyone knows that lions don’t particularly fancy trees. They are clumsy climbers and generally – in human terms – lazy (especially the males).  The lions – I suspect – must have been badly shaken as to opt for a trip up the forbidden branches – judging from the pictures posted in the blog.

I have been having a bad back (probably due to slouching as I squint at my laptop for lengthy periods of time) and thus I haven’t been in so good a mood lately. But this story was just fun. I hope the original blogger will not “tree” me when she sees how I have pimped her blog post. I just couldn’t resist the temptation to tell the story my way.