The Swaras are Here
Category: Swara, Wildlife | Date: May 24 2008 | By: thewaterhole
The much awaited SWARA, Volume 31:1, is finally here (the initial evaluation copies at least: the larger print run will be coming in next week). The cover is breathtaking and the content is amazing. I think this is the best SWARA yet…but that is what I think. I bet you would agree with me should you get to read it. This is how it looks like on the cover. And yes, that, on the cover, is a Mountain Bongo (Tragelaphus euryceros isaaci) one of the world’s rarest and most elusive antelopes. It was photographed by exceptional wildlife photographer Paolo Torchio.
This issue of Swara has a mix of articles to suit each of our readers interests.
The cover story is about the Mountain Bongo written by ‘Bongoman’ Michael Prettejohn and others. This story - On the Trail of the Mountain Bongo - tells you how a wealth of new data, collected and analysed over the past four years, is shedding new light on the slow recovery of the bongo in Kenya. There is a stunning photographic ‘journey’ through A Revitalised Nairobi Park as well as the story of how Africa’s Newest Giant Sengi (Elephant-Shrew species), discovered in 2006 in the Udzungwa Mountains in Tanzania, has been formally described and named.
Then there is an interesting twist about the discovery and naming of a fascinating coecillian called The Kilima-Mrota in Kenya’s Taita Hills by Patrick Malonza and John Measey. Still on new findings, Stephen Spawls tells the story of Kenya’s newly described huge Ashe’s Spitting Cobra (Naja ashei) that has been causing ripples all over the world in his article, Quite an Eyeful. Then our editor, Gordon Boy, puts together the findings on the discovery of, From Madagascar: A New Giant Palm Genus. Botanist Len Newton sheds some light on Kenyan aloes in his article Will the True Aloe Vera Please Stand Up.
Our loyal ‘duduman’ Dino J Martins explains why harvester ants still have much to teach us about resource use and management in Due Diligence while Tony Church reveals a possible way forward for a Kenyan Ranch - Kedong Ranch: An Ecosystem in Peril - that has fallen on hard times. And speaking of hard times, Carol Hardman, in her article ‘Marine Masacre’ tells of a recent tragedy that highlights the wanton destruction of East African marine life.
Wilbur C Smith is asking whether ‘heli-tourism’ should be allowed in our national park in his article ‘Blade Slap’ on the Serengeti. These are conservation issues and Darcy Ogada - in her article Owl Rescue - tackles the conservation of these nocturnal birds by telling us of what could be the first successful captive rearing and release of wild owls by a community in Kenya.
Then there’s yours truly, going on about The Poison in Our Midst - where I tell our readers about the new findings of the investigations that are strengthening the case for a total ban in Kenya on the toxic pesticide Furadan.
There are the usual news items in the ‘Up Front’ section but this time - for the first time ever - is a collection by Wolfgang Thome called ‘Uganda Notes’ that is essentially a collection of newsy items of what is going on in Uganda’s conservation front.
This is not all, but you need to get your copy to know the rest. Just become a member of EAWLS and you get to enjoy this four times each year.
Technorati : Publications, Swara, Wildlife
Furadan: Poisoning Predators and Vultures (2)
Category: Community, Legislation, Swara, Wildlife | Date: Jan 29 2008 | By: admin
Since I last reported on the Furadan issue, not much has been happening really. Two days ago however, I received an email from Darcy Ogada of the National Museums of Kenya’s Bird Committee . She and others have been collecting data about the demise of birds caused by this lethal chemical. They are now preparing a report that will be presented to the Bird Committee. The report will also be discussed during their meeting on 7 February 2008. Darcy has kindly offered to get me a copy of the report. Once I have it I will share the pertinent issues discussed in the report - and - the suggested way forward in dealing with the poisoning threat.
In the meantime, I wish to thank all those who posted comments in my earlier post on this subject. It is particularly interesting to note that the question of sport hunting came up. This has been a hot topic in Kenya. Last year, while the new wildlife law was being discussed, there were clear divisions between those who are pro- and those who are anti-hunting. The comparison of the dollars that could be fetched by trophy-hunting a lion vis-a-vis a lion carcase rotting away after being poisoned would definitely generate some healthy debate.
As for the question of what transpired at the Ministry of Agriculture, I can just say that the matter was ‘mentioned’. There was no adequate discussion of the issue and no action was promised. Our Director, who is currently taking some days off, has however promised to pick up the issue as soon as he comes back to the office. We can not expect much at the moment though as the country is gripped by political and ethnic controversy, tensions, rampant riots and death. It is unlikely that the government is interested in anything else at the moment: especially not some ‘low priority’ affairs such as dead lions.
For those of you who want to help our campaign, you can send donations through this blog. We have a general fund that caters for all our campaigns. We do not spare any resources whenever it becomes all out war against natures enemies and sometimes these resources can become too low as to limit our effectiveness. Go ahead and make your donations. Joining the EAWLS will also help us a lot since your subscriptions not only cater for the publication of SWARA but also support our operations. To join just log on to www.eawildlife.org and go to the membership page. We have a secure page where you can join using your credit card.
All in all, I thank all those who offered additional information and urge all readers to keep alert and inform us how solutions are being sought elsewhere. We at EAWLS will not stop pressuring the government for a solution.
Furadan: Poisoning Predators and Vultures
Category: Community, Swara, Wildlife | Date: Jan 11 2008 | By: admin
For those of you who have been visiting the Lion Guardians blog, you are aware that two lions were killed by poisoning in southern Masailand. The lions died after consuming a carcase of a cow that had been laced with poison by the owner. Although this may seem like an isolated incident, it is not. The use of poisons to kill predators is spreading like bush fire in East Africa and if it remains unchecked, it could reach catastrophic levels. Moreover, we could easily wipe out our predator and scavenger population in a very short time.
In the December 2007 issue of Swara Magazine (Vol. 30 No. 4), I wrote a commentary about the widespread use of the chemical carbofuran, commonly known by one of its trade names, Furadan, and the dangers it poses particularly to large predators and vultures. I believe that the chemical used in the incident described in the Lion Guardians blog was Furadan.
Furadan is a highly toxic insecticide/nematicide that is used to kill insects on plantations of food crops (rice, beans etc). In recent times, pastoralists in Kenya and other eastern Africa countries have been using the chemical to poison predators that prey on their livestock with a devastating knock-on effect on Vultures and other scavengers. The problem is prevalent in northern Kenya and is increasingly becoming a case for concern in masailand. It is particularly worrying since Furadan is not being used to get rid of livestock pests such as ticks but for the deliberate elimination of lions, hyenas, cheetahs, leopards, jackals and other predators. Once these have died, vultures will consume them and eventually die of secondary poisoning. Vultures consume up to 70% of all animal biomass.
Furadan is cheap and easily available. You can, for instance, purchase enough of this poison to wipe out the entire lion population in Masailand at slightly more than one US Dollar at any village agro-vet pharmacy. Seamus MacLennan of Lion Guardians bought this amount at KShs 100 (1 dollar and 31 cents) in Emali - a town 200 km from Nairobi in the Nairobi-Mombasa Highway - last year.
The poison works more like nerve-gas by paralysing the nervous system resulting in twitching, trembling, paralysed breathing, convulsions and, if the dose is enough, death. It gets into the body through swallowing, inhaling or touching. Furadan is responsible for the consequential death of millions of birds in the US. Birds which consumed dead grasshoppers and other insects (eliminated using Furadan on croplands) and those which ingested the chemical directly died en masse. in 1989 for instance, 1,985 ducks, 97% of northern pintails and 3% of green-winged teal were found dead in Colusa, California in an area where Furadan had been used.
In Kenya, there was huge outcry after farmers in Mwea (Eastern Province, Kenya) poisoned thousands of ducks and other waterfowl using the chemical. This outcry led to the ban of granular Furadan in the mid 1990s. The flowable or liquid form of Furadan is not registered in Kenya and was thus not affected. It is worrying to see that the chemical has found its way back to pharmacy shelves again. This time with more charismatic targets.
The East African Wild Life Society (EAWLS) has taken steps to lobby the government to stop the importation and distribution of this highly dangerous poison. The Director, Ali Kaka, will be taking the case to the Agriculture/Livestock Ministry this week to personally persuade him to withdraw Furadan usage in Kenya. Wildlife Direct, Lion Guardians, the EAWLS and others have joined together to prepare a fact file and petition to be presented to Ministry officials, the Kenya Wildlife Service and other relevant authorities.
We hope we can stop this decimation of wildlife before extinction.
Technorati : Kenya, human-wildlife conflict, masailand
Join us at the waterhole!
Category: Swara | Date: Oct 05 2007 | By: admin
Hello readers. My name is Samuel Maina I work for the East African Wildlife Society where I write for Swara Magazine. Above is the cover of the next issue which is due any day - as you can see we have given the main story to the gorilla crisis in order to raise awareness about this crisis in Eastern Africa and the world. If you would like to receive this magazine copy simply join the society online. We ship to anywhere in the world!
Half a Century of Wildlife and People
In 1961 the members of the wildlife societies of Kenya and Tanzania – both founded in 1956 – came together and with Ugandan wildlife enthusiasts formed the East African Wildlife Society (EAWLS).
For half a century, the EAWLS has been at the forefront of conservation in East Africa. From protecting the region’s endangered species and habitats to guiding community groups living adjacent to protected areas in the ways of conservation and all the way to influencing policy changes in the higher echelons of wildlife governance. The Society has become the watchdog, the leader and the teacher of conservation ideals – and the protector of wildlife and their environment.
Of course, we have relied heavily on the generous support of our members throughout the world and like minded individuals and organisations. With this support we have been able to help conserve the region’s black rhinos and elephants; contribute to current efforts to save the Hirola and Roan Antelopes; and act to preserve East Africa’s rapidly disappearing forests, marine resources and wetlands. We have worked in close collaboration with Non-Governmental Organisations and local communities; governments and the various institutions within government; and intergovernmental agencies.
We are guided by a vision to work towards an East Africa where all people can enjoy the full diversity, beauty and richness of nature – because when all is said and done, conservation is about people. That is why our mission is to promote conservation and the wise use of wildlife and the environment in East Africa.
How do we do that? We first influence policy reform through advocacy. In short we make policy makers jittery whenever they start fiddling with policy. That would explain why we are always invited to sit in the panels of policy and law reviews. Policy makers know that if it has to be right, we have to be in it. From the Wildlife Policy and Act, Tourism Policy and the Forest Act. We sit in them. We see the big picture. We want it to go in the direction that benefits both wildlife and people who live with wildlife.
We support conservation areas: from parks, reserves, anti-poaching, and most important community conservation areas. We have for instance been supporting the Kuruwitu Conservation and Welfare Association (in Kilifi, Kenya) put together the first ever community managed marine conservation area. It was their idea. We thought of it as noble. We supported it.
We are always out there interacting with the people who live with wildlife. We tell them of the new techniques that are emerging on wildlife management, we teach them, and we take them to visit their counterparts in other regions. We want them to share experiences with their peers. We want them to be good managers of their resource.
The EAWLS is a membership-based organisation. Our members are the primary focus of our Society. So join us today and be part of a good story that has carried along for half a century.
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