Small doses  

OPs kill Israeli wildlife
Farmers in Israel, weary of their cattle being attacked by wolves, left a cow and several chicken carcasses laced with organophosphate (OPs) insecticides to teach the hungry wildlife a lesson. The result has been devastation of an extremely fragile population of eagles as well as the death of several wild boar, jackals and reptiles.
    Israeli Nature Reserves Authority rangers were weeping during media interviews as they recalled years of painstaking effort to rebuild the virtually extinct eagle population. Their efforts included releases of captively reared birds, provision of feeding stations, protection of nesting sites and monitoring of individual birds.  Following the poisoning incident in early July, of 20 eagles carrying monitoring transmitters, signals have been received from only two.
    Ironically, the rogue Israeli cattle ranchers achieved nothing in terms of protecting their flocks from wolves, since not a single wolf was found poisoned. The Israel Cattle Ranchers Association condemned the poisoning, but several individual farmers expressed impatience at their continuing conflict with wildlife and its protectors.
    In this sad case that understanding between the parties was extremely poor. The eagles have landed, the jackals have ceased laughing but the wolves are still dancing.  
Pers. comm. Mark Davis.

Heavy sheep dip pollution
Figures for sheep dip pollution in 1997 in the UK were the worst on record, according to the Environment Agency. Confirmed cases rose from seven in 1996 to 34, causing widespread damage to hundreds of kilometres of rivers. Most of the pollution was in the North West, the Midlands and Wales.
    The Agency, in conjunction with the agricultural advisory service, ADAS, has produced a report A Strategic Review of Sheep Dipping, which makes a number of recommendations such as: better flock management methods to reduce the need to dip; the requirement for farmers to prepare a dip management plan; and better liaison with mobile dip contractors.  
Environment Action, Issue 15, August/September 1998. Copies of the review are available from Environment Agency R&D Dissemination Centre, WRc, Frankland Road, Swindon, SN5 8YF, Fax 01793 514562, £15.00.

 [This article first appeared in Pesticides News No. 41, September 1998, page 17]