Regulation of Carbofuran and its Use to Poison Wildlife in the European Union and the Rest of Europe

Reported mortality of Griffon VultureGyps fulvusin central Italy and indications for conservation and management

“…wolves and dogs (Mateo‐Tomás et al 2012, Sánchez-Barbudo et al 2012) or, more recently, on the presumed predatory behaviour of Griffon Vultures attacking livestock (Lambertucci et al 2021, Oliva-Vidal et al 2022a), both deserving sound mitigation measures. Existing technical opportunities for wildlife crime prosecution should be readily implemented, and also by enforcing further anti-poison dog units (Poledník et al 2011) prioritising poisoning hot spots. Other anthropogenic threats should also be addressed, namely the impact of wind farms and electrocution.…”

“…The prevalence of carbamates (among which carbofuran and aldicarb dominated, although both have been banned since [2007][2008]) is a recurrent trait in both scavengers and wildlife poisoning issues and these substances have been found to affect several species in different geographical areas (Estrada Pacheco et al 2020, Guitart et al 2010, Hernández and Margalida 2009, Plaza et al 2019b, Safford et al 2019. The prevalence of specific toxic substances in wildlife poisoning is usually linked to factors like lethality, cost, and availability of stocks before their prohibition (Plaza et al 2019a), and less dependent upon the legal status of such substances, as underscored by the abundant and recurrent use of carbamates in western Europe, most of which have been banned as pesticides for more than 15 years (Poledník et al 2011). Although strychnine has been banned in Italy since the 1970s, its use in baits might have been sustained by illegal trade from abroad.…”

“…Consequently, a huge effort is necessary to monitor a larger number of individuals with GPS tags, allowing an unbiased estimation of mortality rates (Arrondo et al 2020, Monti et al 2022, faster retrieval of carcasses (Peshev et al 2022), and, possibly, the prosecution of those responsible. Procedures to investigate the proximate and ultimate causes of death would imply formal coordination and common objectives among (1) public veterinary bureaux in charge of carrying out postmortem investigations, (2) agencies responsible for wildlife management and conservation, and (3) public bodies with responsibility for carrying out investigations and crime prosecutions (Poledník et al 2011). We also recommend a uniform and enhanced panel of toxic substances to be analysed, always including lead, as well as screening for the occurrence of potential new threats after veterinary use of NSAIDs (Herrero-Villar et al 2020).…”