Bird of prey poisonings pose risk to people say Lincolnshire Police

Several dead birds were found dumped in a ditch near Sleaford earlier this month

Poisons being left by criminals to kill birds of prey could result in a human fatality, police and wildlife officials have said.

The RSPB has described Lincolnshire as "a national hotspot" for the persecution of birds of prey.

Incidents are often linked to the birds being targeted to protect pheasants and partridges raised for organised shoots.

"The danger with poisons is that they are completely indiscriminate," Howard Jones from the RSPB said.

The investigations officer said they had seen a record number of incidents across the UK in recent years, including in Norfolk, Dorset and Yorkshire, with a significant number of reports currently being investigated in Lincolnshire.

According to Mr Jones, the "vast majority" of cases being dealt with by the courts involved gamekeepers.

He said the motivation to kill birds of prey was driven by the fact they were viewed as a predator of game birds, but the sentences handed out were often too lenient to act as a deterrent.

Cases involving poisons or illegal shooting should result in a jail sentence, he said.

"If there is someone out there placing poison baits in the open countryside anything that can come into contact with the poison is at risk," he said.

"It is highly dangerous - some of the substances being used would be fatal to humans," he added.

In 2020, the charity reported that a dead buzzard found on moorland in North Yorkshire had enough poison in it to "kill a child".

Det Con Aaron Flint said the brightly-coloured poisons used could be attractive to a child

Det Con Aaron Flint, wildlife officer with Lincolnshire Police, said he was currently investigating four cases of bird poisoning.

"It's too many and it's only a small proportion of the number of birds killed," he said.

The wildlife officer said the substances used posed a real danger to dogs and cats, as well as people.

"I honestly think that one day we are going to have a human fatality."

"Often the offenders will get a pigeon or a pheasant - cut it open and rip out the flesh so the meat is exposed and sprinkle on some poison.

"The poisons are often blue or green - or some other bright colour a child may be attracted to, and I really fear that one day a child is going to come across this, [touch it] and put their fingers in their mouth."

He said those involved often used poison in an attempt to protect game birds, pigeons and chickens and wild fowl, with offending often fuelled by money.

It comes after several dead birds were found dumped in a ditch near Sleaford.

Det Con Flint said the birds were discovered alongside two dead magpies as well as a leg of lamb in cellophane wrapping.

He described it as an "unusual" case and appealed for witnesses.