Environmental Poisons
The recent death of a Golden Eagle has once again highlighted the serious threat posed by the reckless misuse of poisons to our fragile bird of prey populations, as well as to the wider environment. A Golden Eagle corpse was recovered on the 18th February 2010 on the Sligo/Leitrim border at Truskmore Mountain. Analysis revealed that the bird had died as a result of feeding on a lamb carcass which was left exposed on the side of the mountain and which had deliberately been laced with Nitroxynil, a widely available toxin. The eagle was a juvenile male known as Conall after the Irish for Donegal, Tír Chonaill. This bird captured the imagination of the country, when, in 2009, he became one of the first wild Golden Eagles to be hatched in Ireland for over 100 years, following the establishment of the Golden Eagle Trust’s reintroduction project.
In addition to the Golden Eagle project, reintroduced populations of White-tailed Eagle and Red Kite have also been established in Ireland following their extinction due to human persecution, and BirdWatch Ireland assists with each of these projects. The needless death of this juvenile eagle in the North West is unfortunately just one incident of many which threaten the return of these birds to their rightful place in the Irish countryside. A total of nine Golden Eagles, White-tailed Eagles and Red Kites have been poisoned in Ireland over the past two and a half years. In each case the cause has been the use of poison meat baits. This gives serious cause for concern, not only for the reintroduced birds of prey but for other protected bird species, as well as for the wider countryside.
In some parts of the country, especially in sheep-rearing areas, a small number of farmers leave out poisoned meat baits in an attempt to control foxes and crows. It is illegal under the Animal By-Product Regulations to knowingly leave dead livestock above ground; however, provided that the intention is to kill a fox, it is lawful to lay out poison on other meat baits (other than a livestock carcass), under certain conditions. These regulations clearly do not provide adequate safeguards to prevent the inevitable poisoning of birds of prey and as such are in clear contravention of the EU Birds Directive.
John Lusby, Raptor Conservation Officer with BirdWatch Ireland said, “Irish legislation covering the use of poisons needs to be reassessed urgently. Poison meat baits are completely indiscriminate in their effects, and leaving these lethal substances exposed in the countryside will not only affect the species being targeted, but also a wide range of other wildlife and potentially even humans and pets.”
As predators at the top of the food chain, birds of prey provide a valuable insight into the health of the local environment, making the recent deaths of nine of the reintroduced birds even more worrying. John Lusby added, “The poisoning of the reintroduced birds of prey has received much public and media attention due to the high profile of these projects. Given the number of fatalities, one can only imagine the devastating impacts poisoning is having on other scavenging bird of prey species such as the Buzzard. These birds do not carry radio transmitters, and so their deaths are likely to go largely unnoticed.”
Alan Lauder, Head of Conservation with BirdWatch Ireland stated, “We fully appreciate the need for farmers to control pest species in certain situations. Although the majority of farmers do so in an environmentally friendly way, unfortunately the small number of landowners who continue to misuse poisoned meat baits are responsible for bringing farming into disrepute, damaging wildlife and as a result ultimately threatening tourism and farm incomes. BirdWatch Ireland is calling for a complete ban on the use of poisoned meat baits in Ireland.”
Alan Lauder also commented, “A major problem in relation to the use of poisoned meat baits is awareness, both of the legislation surrounding their use and also of the potentially devastating effects they can have. Most people have a great respect for birds such as the Buzzard and might not realise that by placing poison baits they may be killing them, as well as a whole host of other wildlife.”
Scavenging birds of prey are not the only species at risk from poisoning. Barn Owl, Kestrel and Long-eared Owl populations are likely to be negatively impacted by secondary poisoning. Second-generation rodenticides, which are used to control rats and mice, have the potential to affect certain predatory bird species, particularly those that feed on small mammals. The Barn Owl population in particular has declined in Ireland in recent times. The increased use of rodenticides has been widely implicated as a contributing factor in this decline. John Lusby stated, “The problem occurs when raptors such as Barn Owls feed on rodents which have ingested rat poison. The compounds used in certain rat poisons nowadays are extremely toxic and build up in the bird’s body, ultimately killing it.”
BirdWatch Ireland is calling on the Irish Government to step up to its responsibilities to the people, wildlife and unique natural environment of Ireland, as well those imposed on it under EU law, and to properly legislate against the indiscriminate and improperly controlled use of poisons in agriculture.
This article is from the recent BirdWatch Ireland Wings newsletter.
Feb. 22, 2010 - Dead and deformed fish indicate selenium pollution from mountaintop coal mining is causing permanent damage to the environment and poses serious health risks, says a Wake Forest University biologist who will brief U.S. Senators on his research Feb. 23. Selenium pollution affects fish first, so they are the best barometer for understanding the threat to ecosystems downstream from mountaintop removal mining operations, says Dennis Lemly, research professor of biology, who advocates a ban on the process. "We're killing fish right now with selenium pollution from mountaintop removal mining," says Lemly. Toxic levels of selenium were found in 73 of 78 stream samples. The threat is expanding as use of this destructive process expands. Once these ecosystems are polluted, damage to the environment is permanent." Mountaintop removal mining, which has doubled in the past eight years, blasts the top off a mountain and pushes the excess rock to the neighboring valley to get to the coal beneath. Over the past two decades, mountaintop removal mining in Appalachia has buried more than 1,000 miles of streams. Most common in the Appalachian mountains of West Virginia, Virginia and Kentucky, this type of mining causes toxic levels of selenium to leach into rivers and streams. Lemly, who supports tougher regulations on the disposal of coal waste, was part of a team of 12 ecologists and engineers who provided the first comprehensive analysis of damage done by mountaintop removal mining. He and his colleagues will also share their scientific findings Feb. 23 with representatives of the Environmental Protection Agency and the President's Council on Environmental Quality. High levels of selenium threaten fish survival and reproduction. If they do reproduce, contaminated fish have offspring with serious birth defects. Lemly has found that newly hatched fish have crooked spines and deformed heads due to high levels of selenium. They cannot survive and reproduction will fail, he says. He warns the fish population could be wiped out. "Once in the aquatic environment, waterborne selenium can enter the food chain and reach levels that are toxic to fish and wildlife," Lemly wrote in the briefing he prepared. Lemly has studied West Virginia's Mud River Reservoir, which was polluted with selenium released from a mountaintop removal coal mining operation. Fifty to 60 percent of young fish were deformed because of high concentrations of selenium. Selenium levels in fish caught in some of West Virginia's rivers are more than twice what is considered safe for human consumption. Humans need to absorb certain amounts of selenium daily, but extremely high concentrations of selenium can cause reproductive failure and birth defects. "I specialize in fish, but that is only one part of the overall picture," Lemly says, "Public health is also an issue with mountaintop removal mining."
In the interest of fostering civil and issue-oriented discourse, YubaNet does not publish reader comments identified by anonymous Internet "handles" (fake user ID names like "farfromthinkin"). Your full and real name will be published with your comment. Your email address will not be shown, unless you specifically "uncheck" the box 'Hide my email.' By submitting a comment you consent to our rules.
