The American chemical manufacturer, FMC [2], has withdrawn the pesticide, Furadan [3], from the Kenyan market after CBS News aired a documentary on '60 Minutes’ [4]. The documentary depicts how Furadan has become the preferred product for herders who poison lions suspected of killing livestock in and around the Masai Mara National Reserve.
Dr Paula Kahumbu has the entire press release on The Baraza Blog [5], and Martin Odino serializes the use of Furadan to kill all sorts of wildlife in his blog Stop Wildlife Poisoning [6] on WildlifeDirect.org [7]
FMC issued a statement on 29 March 2009 condemning the reported misuse of this highly potent agricultural pesticide as depicted in the documentary.
FMC strongly condemns the use of its products to kill wildlife and is very concerned about these allegations
In the press statement, FMC reports that it has taken several actions to curb the abuse of Furadan in Kenya including:
- Stopping all sales of Furadan to Kenya immediately after learning of an incident in May 2008
- Immediately initiating a Furadan buy-back program in Kenya to remove any remaining product from the market
- Direct outreach to leading conservationists to get any data concerning lion poisonings