Illegal and legal poisoning of raptors remains one of the most significant welfare and conservation challenges for birds of prey globally, with targeted campaigns showing measurable impact in some regions.
Raptor poisoning represents a welfare harm that compounds conservation risk - not only are wild populations reduced, but individual birds experience prolonged and agonizing deaths from lead poisoning, diclofenac toxicity, or deliberate poison baiting. The welfare dimension is often secondary in conservation framing but is equally compelling. Lead poisoning in condors and eagles causes progressive neurological deterioration over weeks; diclofenac in vultures causes visceral gout and organ failure; deliberate poisoning with carbofuran causes rapid convulsive death. Each affected individual experiences significant suffering, and the numbers affected across raptor populations globally are substantial.