Perspectives on wildlife poisoning by carbofuran in the United Kingdom and Republic of Ireland – with a particular focus on Scotland - Carbofuran and Wildlife Poisoning: Global Perspectives and Forensic Approaches - page 183

35

30

25

20

Chloralose
Mevinphos
Strychine
Carbofuran

15

10

5

0

Figure 6.3 Number of incidents (four year rolling average) in which the four most abused chemicals
have been detected in the WIIS-Scotland (1973-2008)

The data suggest that carbofuran has emerged as the poison of choice in Scotland, and this is
regardless of the fact that it is illegal to use or even possess products containing this active ingre-
dient. Carbofuran was banned in the UK in 2001 (refer to Section 6.1), and was included in the
Possession of Pesticides (Scotland) Order 2005 (3). By the late 1980s and early 1990s the incidence
of carbofuran-related mortality began to climb, while that of the other three compounds mentioned
showed a decreasing trend.
It is diffi cult to say why carbofuran use appears to have increased substantially. It is possible that
an increase in publicity has heightened awareness of its use to poison wildlife species, which in turn
has increased the number of incidents reported or carcasses submitted. Incident submissions are
undoubtedly biased towards birds of prey, which may refl ect their vulnerability as scavengers or the
fact that they are specifi cally targeted. However, the variety of vertebrate animals in which residues
of carbofuran have been detected indicates that the setting of baits laced with the deadly poison is
indiscriminate and any scavenger, predatory or curious animal is vulnerable.
In principle, more birds of prey are submitted than other species because there are several groups/
individuals/laws dedicated to their welfare as opposed to mammals (e.g., foxes) and other birds
(e.g., crows and ravens). SASA also frequently deal with a high number of 'companion animal'
poisonings. Figure 6.4 reveals that an unexpectedly high number of domestic/feral animals, almost
exclusively cats, have been victims of carbofuran abuse (4).

6.5.3 Analytical methodology and recent developments

Analytical strategies at SASA have been adapted in accordance with technical developments in
analytical instrumentation. In particular, the use of gas chromatography tandem mass spectrometry
(GC/MS/MS), and, for compounds which are not amenable to GC/MS, liquid chromatography