The ongoing persecution of wildlife overseas is often highlighted but such incidences aren‟t as far away from home as one might imagine. In fact, the National Parks and Wildlife Service (NPWS) and Gardaí face them each week.
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The confirmation in May this year that the deaths of 23 buzzards in Co. Cork, December 2019, were the result of deliberate poisoning generated much publicity and outrage both locally and nationally. It is the largest known fatal mass poisoning of birds of prey since legislation was amended to better protect these animals in 2010. The National Parks and Wildlife Service (NPWS) who published the toxicology reports at the start of May this year show that the poison used was the banned pesticide Carbofuran. Thevery same poison used to kill the Hen Harrier ‘Mary’ in Meath that same year.
