You will know that over the last years we have been encouraging wildlife back into Keurboom Park from what used to be a biological desert. We have had much success to the extent that in the last few months a breeding pair of resident Spotted Eagle Owls raised an owlet only to lose it to what we believe was another raptor. The owls tried again, in a nest they built away from the owl box. This time their young one was successfully fledged. We also have a resident pair of Rufous Breasted Sparrowhawks whose three young have fledged in the last two weeks. Our resident Black Sparrowhawks have, for the third year in succession, successfully raised a young one. A young Gymnogene also visits us at least four times a week.  

Whilst we have many other park birds and wildlife I’m writing only of our raptors because it’s they that are in grave danger from secondary poisoning. Three years ago we had two Spotted Eagle Owls die a horrible death from eating a poisoned rat (secondary poisoning) and earlier this week a group of small children found one of our adult Owls on the ground in the middle playground. She was alive but shivering in great pain. She died a few hours later. The post-mortem showed that she had severe internal bleeding caused once again by poison from a rat caught and eaten a day earlier. We are desperately hoping that the remaining owl and owlet won’t also already have secondary poisoning and that the owlet will survive with just one parent bird.

Our Black Sparrowhawks are also in danger of secondary poisoning because they will opportunistically take rodents. The Rufous Breasted Sparrowhawks should be safe as they take other birds on the wing, but our Gymnogene may be at risk. 

It is almost certain that the rat had been poisoned at a nearby household (the cricket club, the schools and other nearby sports facilities use bait stations which use rodenticide bait containing “cholecalciferol” (vitamin D3) which has a minimal risk of poisoning our raptors.

I don’t understand how anyone, knowing how most rat poisons work, can inflict such horror on another sentient animal, let alone on a magnificent bird. Most store bought rodenticides are made up of bait loaded with an anticoagulant causing uncontrolled internal bleeding. The animal may take five awful days to die. Other chemicals attack the central nervous system causing the animal to have a desperate thirst and stagger in the open - easy prey for raptors.

There are rodenticide brands in bait form that don’t carry the risk of the secondary poisoning of raptors. If you really must rid your home of rats by killing them (rather than catch and release) please discuss this with your vet before buying cheap rat poison from your local shop or supermarket.

Phil Flockton (083 554 1486) Justine Thornton ( 083 284 3388) and the KPA Committee