Farmers and landowners are being urged to “think wildlife” when it comes to using rodenticides, following the high-profile poisoning of a white-tailed eagle in Dorset.

The dead bird was part of a group originally released on the Isle of Wight in 2019 and 2020.

Its body was found in January on a shooting estate in north Dorset, triggering claims from conservationists that it had been deliberately poisoned by a gamekeeper in a purge against raptors.

See also: How to take an integrated approach to rodent control

A police investigation was launched, but later closed. “While high levels of brodifacoum were detected, it has not been possible to establish whether this was as a result of a deliberate act or due to secondary rodenticide poisoning,” the police said.

The RSPB described the decision to call off the investigation as “baffling”.

Response

The incident, and subsequent discovery of further dead birds of prey, has prompted a response from the Campaign for Responsible Rodenticide Use (CRRU).

“Whether caused by deliberate abuse or unintended secondary poisoning from eating poisoned rodents, this incident rightly focuses attention of how rodenticides are used,” said CRRU chairman Alan Buckle.

Brodifacoum is HSE-approved for use under strict conditions in and around buildings and in sewers.

But under the UK Rodenticide Stewardship Regime, operated since 2016, rodenticides authorised for professional use can only be purchased by competence-certified individuals, and their use by pest controllers, farmers and gamekeepers alike is allowed only by trained people.

Further advice on how to maximise the impact of control strategies while minimising the impact on wildlife is contained in a “How to….” newsletter from CRRU (PDF), while further details are spelled out in its full code of best practice (PDF).

Commenting on the specific incident in Dorset, Dr Buckle said that finding the cause and a culprit, if there is one, would probably be impossible “because the [eagle] victim may have travelled many miles from the site of exposure”.

Roy Dennis of the Roy Dennis Wildlife Foundation said it was “very disappointing” that the eagle had died from brodifacoum poisoning. “We hope that the death of this bird serves as a reminder of the toxicity of anticoagulant rodenticide poisons and the impacts they can have on wider wildlife,” he said.