Common buzzards are the most abundant UK raptor but remain subject to illegal persecution on some sporting estates, with poisoning, shooting, and trapping documented.
Buzzards caught in pole traps suffer leg fractures, lacerations, and prolonged suffering before death or rescue. Poisoned buzzards experience neurological and physiological distress before death. Shooting victims may survive with injuries preventing normal hunting and flight for extended periods. Secondary rodenticide poisoning causes progressive internal haemorrhage. Persecution on managed estates reduces local populations affecting breeding density and juvenile survival in surrounding areas. The illegal status of all these methods means welfare costs are imposed without any conservation justification.