Farmers poison endanger birds

BONIFACE KEAKABETSE
Correspondent | Wednesday August 1, 2012 00:00

In an interview on the sidelines of a National Environmental Education (EE) workshop that ended here last Friday, Pete Hancock of Birds Botswana said carbofuran was outlawed in the European Union and the United States where it is manufactured by FMC Corporation in Philadelphia. However, the poison is exported to Africa where it is in use in a number of countries, including Botswana where it is available for sale in a number of agricultural outlets.According to Hancock, some of the poison enters Botswana illegally from Zimbabwe and is sold on the black market.

Hancock said 52 vultures were poisoned with carbofuran in Hainaveld Farms in 2008, 55 in Xadum in 2009, 15 in the Chobe in 2010, while nearly 200 vultures died in one incident in Kwando so far this year. The vultures died after eating poisoned carcasses set by farmers to kill problematic predators like lions and wild dogs. Birds being killed in this manner include the lappet-faced vulture, a globally threatened species.Hancock blames this threat to Botswana's biodiversity on the country's 'weak' pesticide control laws and monitoring.'The carbofuran is an insecticide for use in non-food crops like tobacco,' he said. 'We don't grow any tobacco in Botswana, so why sell the insecticide here?'

Meanwhile, an entire pack of wild dogs recently re-introduced in the Tuli Block has reportedly been wiped out by farmers there through a termite poison. Wild dogs are a seriously endangered species and are protected in Botswana.Two wild dogs were killed in May by means of the poison, while the rest were exterminated by herdsmen who laced the carcasses of two goats the dogs had killed with the termite poison. A large male leopard, an African wildcat and an African hawk eagle were also similarly poisoned.  Presenting on the topic 'Vultures and the Loss of Biodiversity' at the workshop, Hancock said Botswana was home to seven species of vultures that were all globally threatened. Some of these birds 'fell' by mistake, others were killed out of hatred, while some of them were killed for purposes of witchcraft. Hancock said EE was a powerful tool that could help prevent the extinction of endangered species in Botswana through the school curriculum. The workshop, which was attended by various environmentalists from teaching and other professions, aimed to strengthen the role of EE to equip students on issues of dealing with environmental problems.

* Carbofuran, which is also known as furadan, is one of the most toxic carbamate pesticides.