Red kites were reduced to a tiny remnant population in Wales by the 20th century but have been successfully reintroduced across Britain. Their story demonstrates what targeted conservation can achieve for a persecuted species.
Red kite welfare has dramatically improved through successful reintroduction and legal protection. Birds now living throughout England and Scotland have access to suitable habitat with carrion food resources and reduced persecution. Ongoing threats from secondary rodenticide poisoning, deliberate persecution, and lead contamination continue to kill individual birds. Each poisoned kite represents a preventable welfare harm. The success story also illustrates that welfare improvements and conservation recovery go together -- birds in recovering populations have better prospects for survival and reproduction than those in relict populations under constant pressure.