AR-News: (Scot) Poison rabbit baits found near Aberfeldy

[Ronda Roaring]

Saturday March 20, 03:00 AM 

Police investigate poison rabbit baits 
A POLICE investigation was launched yesterday after rabbit carcasses laced with a potentially deadly pesticide were found on a small community-owned estate in Perthshire, near a busy tourist road. 
The three rabbits, which were being used as bait, had been poisoned with carbofuran, an agricultural pesticide more toxic than strychnine, which was banned two years ago. 
And Tayside Police said yesterday that the discovery of the poisoned carcasses so close to a public road made the illegal baits even more dangerous than normal. 
The carcasses were found on Dun Coillich, 1,100 acres of hill land near Aberfeldy - the site of the first community-led buy-out in Highland Perthshire. 
Tayside Police revealed that they were investigating the possibility that the poisoned carcasses were deliberately laid as part of a twisted smear campaign to try to discredit the Highland Perthshire Communities' Land Trust, which bought the land two years ago. 
Alan Stewart, Tayside Police's wildlife and environment officer, told The Scotsman: "We don't think killing birds of prey was the prime concern. 
"This incident appears to be a bit different from the normal, where killing wildlife is the main consideration. It may have something to do with the purchase of this land for recreational purposes and that somebody has been trying to make some sort of twisted point." 
Mr Stewart explained: "If the purpose of illegal poisoned baits is to kill crows, foxes or buzzards then they are normally found in places members of the public are unlikely to encounter them. 
"In this case it seems as if the person who set them out wanted them to be found. Thankfully, the baits appear to have been found soon after they were set out and had not been predated by any bird or animal." 
The three rabbits had been laid as bait less than 100 yards from the Aberfeldy to Tummel Bridge road. 
Mr Stewart said: "The carcasses weren't close enough to be picked up as road-kill, but they were still very close to the road. You wouldn't expect to find bait, laced with pesticide, 100 yards from a road." 
Leaders of the Scottish Landowners' Federation and the Scottish Gamekeepers' Association also condemned the use of poisoned baits. 
Lord Dalhousie, the chairman of the natural resources committee of the Landowner's Federation, said: "Whatever its purpose, this is a completely senseless and foolish act, and the SLF joins Tayside Police and other organisations in condemning it outright." 
Bert Burnett, a spokesman for the Scottish Gamekeepers' Association, said: "The SGA condemn the illegal use of pesticides and are sure that gamekeepers in the area will co-operate fully with the police in helping solve this mystery." 
Wildlife campaigners also criticised the incident. 
Patrick Stirling-Aird, of the Scottish Raptor Study Group, said: "It is disgraceful that in the 21st century, criminal placing of poisoned baits in the countryside is still occurring." 
Duncan Orr-Ewing, of the RSPB in Scotland, declared: "Illegal poisoning is a totally indiscriminate practice and it has been rightly banned for many years." 
Dun Coillich is on the south-east flank of Schiehallion, one of Scotland's most popular mountains, which is partly owned by the John Muir Trust. The land was bought by the communities' land trust in May, 2002. 
By: FRANK URQUHART -- 20-Mar-04 


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