Agreement to Protect Swainson's Hawks

Pesticide Impacts on
Wildlife
Agreement to Protect Swainson's Hawks

PANUPS -- November 4, 1996
A recent international agreement reached by industry, government officials and environmentalists may save Swainson's hawks from monocrotophos poisoning in Argentina, according to the American Bird Conservancy (ABC), a U.S. environmental group that brokered the agreement. Tens of thousands of Swainson's hawks have died in Argentina in recent years after consuming monocrotophos, an organophosphate insecticide that farmers apply to alfalfa fields for grasshopper control. The raptors, which migrate every year from western Canada and the U.S., are due to begin arriving in Argentina in early November.
After calling for a global withdrawal of monocrotophos, ABC convened a meeting in August 1996 with Canadian and U.S. government toxicologists and other officials, representatives of several environmental groups and Ciba-Geigy, one of the largest purveyors of monocrotophos in Argentina. Participants at the meeting stressed that Swainson's hawks are severely threatened by monocrotophos in Argentina. Because so many of the adults concentrate in a relatively small area (compared to the region they inhabit in Canada and the U.S.), poisoning incidents in Argentina could greatly impact worldwide populations of the hawks. Over 700 hawks were found dead under one roost.
According to ABC, monocrotophos is one of the most acutely toxic pesticides to birds ever used and major bird kills have been reported from its use for more than 25 years. U.S. EPA classifies monocrotophos a Class I toxin, the most potent toxicity category -- it is not registered for use in Canada or the U.S.
Ciba-Geigy agreed at the meeting to remove monocrotophos from the Argentinean market in areas where the Swainson's hawks reside and buy back remaining stocks of monocrotophos. In addition, Ciba will add warning labels to containers indicating that the pesticide is prohibited for use on grasshoppers or alfalfa fields and initiate television, radio and poster announcements regarding the hazards of monocrotophos. Ciba-Geigy manufactures one third of the monocrotophos sold in Argentina.
Ciba also agreed to encourage other pesticide companies to take similar steps toward protecting Swainson's hawks. Since the meeting, three other companies that sell monocrotophos in Argentina have agreed to take it off the market and buy back existing stocks in the region where Swainson's hawks gather. In addition, the Argentinean government announced it will ban monocrotophos for use on alfalfa and grasshoppers.
Scientists in Canada and the U.S. have observed declining Swainson's hawk populations for several years, but little was known about their migratory habits until 1994, when U.S. biologists documented that large flocks of the raptors congregated in an agricultural region of Argentina 300 miles west of Buenos Aires. Last winter, scientists from the U.S. Forest Service counted a total of 4,000 dead Swainson's hawks at four sites in Argentina, and estimated that 20,000 raptors -- approximately 5% of the world's Swainson's hawk population -- had died from poisoning that season. Forensic evidence confirmed that monocrotophos was responsible. Scientists believe some of the birds were killed by direct exposure and others by eating contaminated grasshoppers. Grasshoppers are the hawks' primary source of food in Argentina
The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service has been funding training and outreach efforts about the hawks in Argentina and a local conservation group will send biologists to educate farmers about the effects of monocrotophos and to suggest safer alternatives. Among the alternatives being recommended are carbaryl, pyrethroids and the organophosphate malathion. One scientist involved in the meetings expressed concern about the replacements, stating that Swainson's hawks "may be very sensitive to organophosphates."
According to agriculture officials in Argentina, pesticide use for grasshopper control will likely increase because farmers are under intense economic pressure to intensify agricultural production for the international market. U.S. export records show that exports of hazardous pesticides to Argentina increased from 1.3 million pounds in 1992 to 8.1 million pounds in 1994.
Sources: New York Times, October 15, 1996; "Agreement Reached to Save Swainson's Hawks," American Bird Conservancy Press Release, October 1996; Pierre Mineau, Canadian Wildlife Service, personal communication, October 31, 1996; "Silent Wings," Audubon, October 1996.
Contact: American Bird Conservancy, 1250 24th Street, NW, Suite 220, Washington, DC 20037; phone (202) 467-8348; email gww@abcbirds.org.
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