Red kites have recovered dramatically in the UK through reintroduction but face ongoing illegal poisoning and secondary rodenticide poisoning that kills individuals.
Red kites poisoned illegally or by secondary rodenticide exposure experience severe neurological effects before death — a prolonged and distressing welfare harm. The recovery of this species represents a conservation triumph, but individual birds continue dying from preventable human-caused poisoning. Reducing rodenticide use in red kite habitat directly prevents this welfare harm.