Farmers have been given permission to eradicate voles with poison!

At this time of the year, storks are gathering in the fields to hunt the voles in their preparations to go south for the winter. Aerial application of poison, however, puts them in great danger.

Photo credit: Vladimír Gahura / zdroj: ČSO birds.cz__

Farmers have recently been given permission to eradicate voles by spreading poison.

This means that many animals, not only voles, are at risk of ingesting these poisons. There are many different bird species for which voles are a vital food source, as warned by ornithologists. Furthermore, these methods of eradication could also become a threat to the critically endangered ground squirrel, a species we are trying to conserve and ultimately protect through different research projects.

We consider this method of small rodent eradication, specifically aerial application of poison for ingestion, as an extreme and dangerous solution to manage voles in our agricultural and farmland landscapes.

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22.8.2019 It has been confirmed that two white storks were poisoned by Stutox::

Web ČSO: Poison for voles has subsequently poisoned white storks in Opava

Web ČT: Two stors in the Opava region have been killed by poison, which is used to kill voles

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Have you seen poison in a field or have you discovered an animal suspected of poisoning?

Ornithologists continue to appeal to the public to be more aware of what is happening in the landscape. If you find that there is poison in a field or see there are dead animals, please send the information to the Central Institute for Supervising and Testing in Agriculture (ÚKZÚZ) podatelna@ukzuz.cz and a copy to ČSO cso@birdlife.cz.