A report generated by the Uttarakhand Forest Department has warned officers, wildlife scientists and activists across Uttarakhand and other Indian States about poachers using the pesticide Furadan (Carbofuran) to poach big cats and birds.
It was earlier believed that poachers used Nuvan pesticide but Furadan is more effective and poses a serious threat to wildlife protection as has been recently revealed. Surprisingly, the State anti-poaching cell chief is not aware of this revelation and is en route on a foreign tour.
Wildlife activists point out that poisoning of wildlife by both poachers and villagers is a serious threat which requires monitoring of vulnerable areas and regular interaction between the stakeholders. A tiger or leopard poisoned with Furadan can die within an hour and it is hard to ascertain its presence in forensic examination unless a particular test is specifically asked for. There are also reports of poachers suspected of using this pesticide to kill birds at water bodies to sell in the local market.
When asked about what steps the State forest department plans to take to check the threat of Furadan misuse for poaching wildlife, the anti-poaching cell director SK Dutt said that he was not aware of the alert. “I am going to Japan but I will talk to the officer concerned regarding this report,” he said. Wildlife Protection Society of India (WPSI) programme manager Tito Joseph stressed on the need for regularly monitoring vulnerable areas prone to misuse of the pesticide.
“Since this product is also legally used for agriculture, it is hard to ban it because it will then be smuggled from an area where it is not banned. Due to this, areas farmed near the forests should be monitored to check on the misuse of Furadan while there should also be regular interaction between the forest department and villagers.
Poisoning of wildlife by villagers and poachers is a major problem so there is need for developing a mechanism to monitor the vulnerable areas. I have heard of Furadan also being used in some South Indian states for illegally poisoning street dogs,” he added.