Secondary poisoning from rodenticides kills thousands of raptors annually across Europe and North America, with buzzards, red kites, and barn owls among the most severely affected species.
Raptors poisoned by secondary anticoagulant exposure die from internal bleeding — a process that can take days during which birds become progressively weaker, lose coordination, and are unable to hunt or protect themselves from predation. The welfare harm is invisible: affected birds are found dead without obvious cause, masking the scale of rodenticide mortality. Wildlife rehabilitation centers see poisoned raptors regularly, yet the source of harm continues largely unaddressed because rodenticide users do not observe the consequences to wildlife.