Barn owls are iconic farmland predators whose welfare is severely threatened by secondary rodenticide poisoning and the loss of rough grassland hunting habitat across Britain.
Barn owl welfare is shaped by two intersecting crises: prey availability and rodenticide contamination. An owl hunting over improved grassland with inadequate vole density must fly longer and farther each night, depleting energy reserves and increasing road crossing frequency. SGARs cause sublethal impairment before death - affected owls show reduced coordination and reaction time, increasing road mortality risk and reducing hunting success in a vicious cycle. Post-mortem studies consistently find SGAR residues in the vast majority of barn owls, demonstrating that the problem is not isolated incidents but systemic contamination of the farmland food chain. Rough grassland restoration and SGAR restriction are the two highest-impact welfare interventions.