The PBMS has recently published two annual reports on Second-Generation Anticoagulant Rodenticide (SGAR) residues in Red Kites, Milvus milvus, in 2021 and 2022. The reports describe the detection, magnitude, and spatial trend of SGAR residues in the liver of 42 and 14 Red Kites that died and were collected in 2021 and 2022 in Britain, respectively.
The reports present a high detection rate (>98% of Red Kites collected) of at least one SGAR in the liver of Red Kites in these years. There was no continuous temporal trend in the summed liver concentrations of the five SGAR currently used in the United Kingdom (bromadiolone, difenacoum, brodifacoum, difenacoum and flocoumafen) during the monitoring period (2015 – 2022), although summed SGAR concentrations (ΣSGARs) was significantly higher in 2021 than some previous years (2016 – 2019). The reports also reveal an increasing trend in the exposure of Red Kites to brodifacoum during the monitoring periods and some potential hot spots of exposure to SGARs.
Overall, the high proportion of Red Kites exposed to SGARs along with observed higher sum of SGAR and the increasing trend of brodifacoum residues observed in recent years remains a concern.
For the full reports (and all of our previous reports), see our Reports pages.