Did you know that even nowadays there are people deliberately using poison to kill birds of prey? It is incomprehensible deed and moreover it is illegal and dangerous. Be on the watch! Pay attention if you find a dead raptor in the wild. You can help save the lives of other birds.

“How do I know that a raptor was poisoned? Should I report it to someone?”

People ask us these questions regularly and their interest in the issue has prompted us to bring you some general information about the unlawful poisoning of birds of prey.

IMPORTANT WARNING: Bait that has been poisoned is dangerous to humans and pets, too. If you find a suspicious lure, do not touch it and call the police right away!

How do I know that a raptor has been poisoned?

After eating a poisoned bait, raptors die in horrible spasms. The poison paralyses their nervous system and that makes them choke to death. Often they don’t even manage to swallow that piece of poisoned meat…

The following is suspicious:

• there are one or more dead individuals in the locality
• near the cadaver, there is a meat bait
• the dead individual lies on its abdomen with half-spread, hung down wings or head
• the raptors have its talons clenched, often clutching torn out grass or soil
• they are bleeding from eyes, beak or body cavities
• the individual has food remains in its beak
• there are vomit and droppings near the cadaver

What does poisoned bait look like?

• a meat bait (various parts of domestic or wild animals, fish, ...)
• of unnatural colour e.g. rich pink with traces of a foreign substance
• an egg with puncture marks, sealed up with wax or having signs of a foreign substance
• eggs placed where a hen would never lay them, such as in the middle of a field
• dead insects on and near the bait

What should I do if I find a poisoned raptor or bait?

Don’t touch anything, take a picture of what you have seen with your cell phone, remember where the scene is and call the police. When they arrive, be helpful and let them know what you have found, where you found it and under what circumstances you stumbled across it.

You can also anonymously report anything suspicious. Go to www.imperialeagle.eu or the BirdCrime app on your mobile phone.

Thank you for helping us in protecting nature.

The #PannonEagle LIFE Team

One or more dead individuals in the locality (source: archive RPS)

Near the cadaver, there is a meat bait (source: archive RPS)

The dead individual lies on its abdomen with half-spread, hung down wings or head (source: archive RPS)

The raptors have its talons clenched, often clutching torn out grass or soil (source: archive RPS)

Individual bleeding from eyes, beak or body cavities (source: archive RPS)

Individual has food remains in its beak (source: archive RPS)

A meat bait  (source: archive RPS)

Bait has unnatural colour e.g. rich pink with traces of a foreign substance (source: archive RPS)

An egg with puncture marks, sealed up with wax or having signs of a foreign substance (source: archive RPS)

Eggs placed where a hen would never lay them, such as in the middle of a field (source: archive RPS)

Dead insects on and near the bait (source: archive RPS)