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Poisoned birds consumers warned of health hazards
2006-02-27 09:43:05
By Bilham Kimati
The Wildlife Conservation Society of Tanzania (WCST) has warned about the health hazards that stalk the residents of the Southern highlands who eat poisoned birds’ meat.
At the same time, environmentalists have warned of an imminent ecological imbalance, saying the majority of bird species in the region are on the brink of extinction if indiscriminate poisoning of birds for their meat is not stopped.
The experts have warned that the chemicals used in the poisoning of the birds for commercial purpose had dire and long lasting effect on the lives of those who eat poisoned birds’ meat.
Due to abject poverty and low standards of living, some members of the local communities near Usangu Valley in Mbarali District, Mbeya Region have targeted a variety of bird species including the endangered ones.
A senior conservation officer in the Wildlife Conservation Society of Tanzania, Paul Nnyiti warned of the adverse effects caused by ingested toxic chemicals persistently ignored by bird eaters.
The villagers used highly toxic chemicals to poison the birds before they are prepared and sold to unsuspecting consumers.
The tasty meat, which is fried and seasoned with an assortment of spices have now become a popular delicacy for many and their families.
Those in the trade have now secured remote markets where they sell hundreds of poisoned birds regularly. These include Mbarali, Rujewa and Chimala in Mbeya, Makambako, Ilembula and Njombe in Iringa Region.
Consumers in these areas, said Nnyiti, will in the long run suffer the cumulative effects of the toxic chemicals taken from birds killed in large numbers in the Usangu valley.
Explaining how the market is constantly supplied with the delicacy, Nnyiti said the perpetrators poison pools with chemicals like Thiodan, Furadam and 2-4 D, which kill birds in large numbers.
He said the Wildlife Conservation Society of Tanzania, is making efforts to work closely with the authorities in the area beginning with the village to the district level to educate people about the hazards of what might be considered small quantities of poison.
Among the rare bird species whose survival is at the mercy of bird sellers include the shining starling, the unique type hardly found in any other place in the world. Others include the pelicans and quelea-quelea.
However, Usangu valley is said to play host to hundreds of bird species because of rice farming, which guarantees the birds an undiminishing supply of food.
Paddy farms include those of Madibira, Mbarali and Kapunga, also use the pesticides unfortunately used to kill birds.
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