After eating a pesticide forbidden for outdoor use in England, a rare white-tailed eagle was killed in West Sussex. Conservationists had been hearing rumors of the bird’s death for a long time, but police had yet to confirm it. A laboratory report confirming the usage of the prohibited herbicide bendiocarb has now proven that the […]
Tag: poisoning
47% of Arizona’s bald eagles had chronic lead poisoning in 2021
PHOENIX — A new study from the journal Science found that almost half of bald eagles and golden eagles in Arizona and 37 other states suffered from chronic lead poisoning. The main way eagles consume lead is through their diet. Lead bullets and shot used in hunting game and varmints break apart on impact, and […]
Elephant poaching by cyanide poisoning happening again in Zimbabwe
In Lupane on Friday, ZIMPARKS rangers discovered a decaying elephant carcass suspected of having succumbed to cyanide poisoning. Poachers employing the highly lethal toxin may be on the street again, nearly a decade after Zimbabwe lost hundreds of jumbo and other species in a similar method. The tragedy was termed Zimbabwe’s worst ecological disaster in […]
Large number of Himalayan griffon vultures killed by pesticide poisoning
More than 95 Himalayan griffon vultures and a steppe eagle were discovered dead in the Chaiygaon region of Milanpur village in Assam’s Kamrup district on March 17, 2022. Prasanna, a local conservationist in Milanpur village, told Down to Earth on March 18 that “about a hundred Himalayan vultures have died all of a sudden.” “The […]
European raptors including eagles, goshawks and vultures significantly reduced in number due to lead ammunition poisoning
According to the first study to evaluate these implications across Europe, poisoning caused by preying on or scavenging animals shot by hunters using lead ammunition has left many raptors—or birds of prey—far smaller than they should be. When birds such as eagles and Red Kites scavenge carcasses or consume injured animals with toxic lead pieces […]
Waterbirds in eastern Australia declining despite breeding boost from wet years, survey finds
Consecutive wet years have boosted breeding colonies of waterbirds in eastern Australia but not enough yet to increase total bird numbers, according to the latest edition of one of the world’s largest and longest nature surveys. Researchers on the annual survey, now in its 39th year, flew 38,360km – or almost enough to circumnavigate the […]
Eight wolves were found poisoned in Oregon. Police are asking for the public’s help
The dead wolves began turning up in Oregon in early February. First, state fish and wildlife troopers found an entire pack of five wolves – known as the Catherine pack – killed by poison in Union county. Then, between March and July, authorities found three grey wolves, two females and a male, similarly poisoned to […]
‘Wondrous and amazing’: female California condors can reproduce without males
The California condor is the largest flying bird in North America, with a 10ft wingspan that enables it to soar up to 15,000ft – nearly half the height of a commercial airplane. Now the birds can claim another superlative feat: scientists have discovered that females can reproduce without a male partner, in a rare phenomenon […]