Poisoning/Shooting of Birds of Prey - Please read guidelines in first post

Kess73 wrote: »

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I just mentioned deer as they do get illegally killed from time to time as well.

Poaching of deer is indeed a problem in a growing number of areas and no people are more enraged/upset about that then legitimate hunters/deer stalkers - as many of the threads in the hunting forum will attest. At the end of the day all these problems require concerted action by the government, NGO's and ordinary members of the public to bring all these criminals to justice. Its not just an Irish problem eitheir, in the UK they are having similiar battles on all fronts, despite the police having specialized wildlife crime units etc.:(

"in 2011 BirdWatch Ireland recorded more poisoning incidents than ever before"

Gutted.

kildare.17hmr wrote: »

Is it possible for rats that eat covered bait then die somewhere else are eaten by raptors then pass it on to them?

I cant imagine people poisining them deliberatly around lusk, what possible reason would they have??

Poisoned rodents usually crawl down a hole to die. The most likely explanation is that some one is still illegally using poisoned meat baits, not necessarily to target kites.

Unfortunately another confirmed poisoned in Wicklow today. Remains to be seen what killed the Dublin birds but secondary poisoning (rodentcides) suspected:-(

Above posted by GET on their Facebook page today.

recedite wrote: »

I'd like to see them produce statistics to back that up.
Sounds more like a marketing man's bluster to me.

Yes, with the public more aware of poisoning, it might just mean it gets reported more without an actual increase in poisoning. I really hope that there is no actual increase.

The only way I can put this is that its not good enough.

Traonach wrote: »

The regional veterinary Labs are the people who do the post mortem's on the poisoned birds. This is where Birdwatch Ireland are getting their information.

People would be hard pressed to find a more accurate or reliable source of info for Birdwatch Ireland tbh, but I don't doubt that there would be some quarters ( not talking about anyone on Boards) that would go as far as to dispute the lab findings.


Can remember one landowner in Munster some time back who tried to dispute a case of poisoning by trying to argue that he could not be sure that anyone working in a lab would be any better qualified to tell if an animal was poisoned than a layperson.:D

Birdnuts wrote: »

Poaching of deer is indeed a problem in a growing number of areas and no people are more enraged/upset about that then legitimate hunters/deer stalkers - as many of the threads in the hunting forum will attest. At the end of the day all these problems require concerted action by the government, NGO's and ordinary members of the public to bring all these criminals to justice. Its not just an Irish problem eitheir, in the UK they are having similiar battles on all fronts, despite the police having specialized wildlife crime units etc.:(

Birdnuts I agree with most of what your saying I know there are many legitimate hunters in ireland but there were countless threads in after hours about an elephant and rhino poacher in africa and a few hunters (not by any means all) expressed an interest stating "they would love" to have a go. One hunter didnt even see a problem with bribes being involved. One of the posters in this thread thanked the post. Most of the irish hunting community are clearly anti poaching but it doesnt help their case when there are those amongst their number who support it.

recedite wrote: »

. I seem to remember much more frequent poisonings in 2009 and 2010, including peregrines, kites, and the various eagles.

The year isn't over yet and 5 red kites in just a few weeks is very alarming, not to mention a number of incidents involving buzzrds and peregrine falcons already this year (Although I suspect in the most recent case, the consumption of poisoned rodents ie. secondary poisoning, was the cause of death for the Lusk Kites)

Tonight I learnt that 5 more Kites have been found dead in Fingal - this brings to 8 dead birds recovered in North Co. Dublin in the space of only 2 months since early November. Autopsies done on four of the birds strongly suggest secondary poisoning from the consumption of dead or dieing rats which fed on a certain brand of persistant rodenticide. It also looks likely that the other birds succumbed in similiar way. This is a devastating blow for the latest phase of the project as it means a shocking 20% of the birds released in Fingal just last summer have now been found dead. Worse, this figure is likely to be an underestimate given that some bodies are very likely to remain unfound.

It also raises serious issues for other species like Owls,Kestrels and other species that feed on rodents in this part of the country. It certainly indicates that the problem is even worse then many feared and is probably a major factor in the decline of a number of yellow and red-listed species.


PS:More details will become public over the coming days but I just thought I'd brace people for some grim tidings:(

Kess73 wrote: »

Disgusting news though. Birdnuts hit the nail on the head when she mentions that other species will have been affected by this as well. Owls, Kestrels, sprawks, foxes, badgers, corvids, feral and house cats etc etc., the list of animals that could have been given a slow painful death just goes on and on.

It really shows the level of ignorance that the reintroduction programmes are up against, and the level of ignorance wildlife in general is up against in this country. And I would have very little doubt that if those that put the poison out were spoken to, they would be the type that would present themselves as "experts" on nature.


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I think more studies need to be done on the role of rodenticides in the secondary poisoning of species that prey on rodents. This actually goes beyond conservation into hard economics given the increasing resistance among rats/mice to many rodenticides currently on the market. If this continues hand in hand with falling rodent predator populations such as Barn Owls and other raptors etc. then householders, businesses and farmers will have increasing problem controlling rodent numbers and associated losses.

I have seen a couple of studies on Barn Owl exposure to rodenticides and the figures are indeed worrying in many areas. What needs to be done now is a study of the comparitive exposure between populations in rural areas and places adjacent to large towns and cities. I suspect populations in the latter category may be more exposed to the danger of secondry rodenticide poisoning for obvious reasons and that is why the Kites in a built up area like Fingal are succumbing in such worrying numbers.

I also suspect that the dead kites(which often feed in groups) located a point source for contaminated rodents such as a sloppy rodent disposal practice by a pest control company or something along those lines. I'm only speculating here and I'm sure more details will emerge over the coming weeks but so many dead birds in such a short time suggests something more then the occasional contaminated rodent.


Eithier way something needs to be done to safeguard the surviving birds. Since the months of Autumn/Winter are the time when rodents are most exposed to such pest control methods it might be prudent of the project team to provide surviving birds with a source of uncontaminated food to get them through this danger period.

PS: I've just seen Mr T's and Goosey posts after I posted this - most of the points I mentioned above are covered in them so sorry for the long winded post;)