Toxicology and wildlife conservation in Europe: The inadequacy of current EU regulations

摘要

In this issue of The Veterinary Journal, three important review articles are published on animal poisoning in Europe. The authors comprehensively review available information on common toxicants affecting farm livestock and poultry (Guitart et al., 2010a), companion animals (Berny et al., 2010) and wildlife (Guitart et al., 2010b) and put forward sensible suggestions for better data gathering and controls. It was in 1943 that the Spanish philosopher José Ortega y Gasset described the essence of recreational hunting and commented that the scarcity of prey was fundamental in understanding this human activity (Ortega y Gasset, 1943). Ortega cites an adventure from the Chronicles of the Kings of Castile, in which (in 1449) Don Juan II followed a wild boar (Sus scrofa) through woodlands for 4 days simply for the thrill of the hunt. Five hundred and more years later our game species are managed so as to be more abundant, largely through practices and control measures that include the use of poisons to reduce the number of wild predators, based presumably on the simplistic equation that ‘fewer competitors equal more benefits’. The dangers of this mantra become alarmingly apparent in the context of wild animal poisonings (Guitart et al., 2010b) where the illegal use of pesticides or other poisons are seen to be the major cause of mortality not only of wild predators but also of domestic dogs and cats that succumb to accidental (or intentional) harm as a result of indiscriminate chemical use (Berny et al., 2010).