\n The poisonings have raised fresh questions over rodenticide use in the countryside.\n<\/p>\n
\n Since 2019, Natural England has investigated 10 suspected white-tailed eagle poisonings in England, including nine deaths and one non-fatal illness; six cases were in Dorset: five deaths and one illness.\n<\/p>\n
\n Poole Harbour has become a hotspot for the reintroduced white\u2011tailed eagles, with up to six birds seen there at once and at least two local adult eagles now using the area regularly\n<\/p>\n
\n Natural England told the Echo toxicology tests found brodifacoum<\/a> in all five dead Dorset eagles \u201cat levels considered close to significant\u201d.\n<\/p>\n \n Brodifacoum is a powerful rat poison that stops blood clotting and causes severe internal bleeding, and even small amounts can kill rodents, pets, farm animals and wild birds and poison predators that eat contaminated prey.\n<\/p>\n \n Experts said rodenticide toxicity probably contributed by leaving the birds more vulnerable to injury, starvation or other factors, although levels were \u201cnot high enough to be identified as the primary cause of death\u201d.\n<\/p>\n \n Natural England\u2019s list records Dorset eagles found in January 2022<\/a> (cause \u201cunspecified\u201d), May 2024 (starvation), March 2025 (trauma) and March 2026 (electrocution), plus a non-fatal illness in February 2022.\n<\/p>\n \n A fifth eagle died by electrocution in November 2024; Natural England said brodifacoum was found in all five at levels \u201cabove those expected from normal background exposure\u201d, requiring further investigation into its use.\n<\/p>\n \n The results \u201csuggest brodifacoum may not have been used in accordance with legal requirements designed to protect wildlife and prevent exposure of non-target species,\u201d Natural England said.\n<\/p>\n