With the ongoing encroachment of agriculture into the wild lands of Kenya and other parts of Africa, wildlife are being killed by pesticide poisoning.  Carbofuran, a common insect pesticide, is being used on agricultural lands to kill agricultural pests.  It is a neurotoxin and therefore will kill any animal which ingests it.  As it moves up the food chain, it bioaccumulates and begins to hit more non-target species like the lion and other carnivores.

As with many governments, Kenya has stopped allowing sales of the pesticide in their country but some members of the Kenyan parliament still oppose the ban.  It also does not stop people purchasing it outside Kenya and bringing it in to continue the use.

With such a strong dependence of the Kenyan economy based on the tourism industry, why would they allow for such a situation to occur?  When the pesticide was creating problems with endangered wildlife in Canada, it was prohibited from use and other non-toxic options were introduced.

The population of African lions has already declined by 30 to 50 percent over the past two decades, due to human population growth, agricultural expansion, hunting and poaching by livestock ranchers.

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