Press release from Police Scotland:
APPEAL FOR INFORMATION FOLLOWING THE DEATH OF A BIRD OF PREY IN ABERDEENSHIRE
Detectives are appealing for information after a bird of prey was poisoned in Aberdeenshire.
On Saturday, 6 September, 2025 a member of the public found a dead sparrowhawk in a wooded area near to Lumphanan.
Following enquiries, it has been established that the sparrowhawk had been poisoned.
Police Scotland Wildlife Crime Liaison Officer Constable Ann Ashman said:
“From enquiries carried out so far, we know this sparrowhawk has been poisoned with insecticide carbosulfan, resulting in a harrowing death.
“Sparrowhawks are protected under the Wildlife and Countryside Act 1981, and it is an offence to intentionally or recklessly kill or injure them.
“The use of carbosulfan is illegal, with the substance having been banned in the UK since 2008. This substance can cause death in humans, so its illegal use is extremely reckless.
“We are carrying out an investigation in relation to this incident and will be working with a range of partner organisations. The public has an important role to help up combat wildlife crime. If you see anything suspicious, please report it to us via 101, or anonymously to Crimestoppers on 0800 555 111.”
Anyone with information is asked to contact Police Scotland on 101, quoting incident number 1179 of 2 October, 2025.
ENDS
Raptor Persecution UK 
Is it confirmed as poisoned from autopsy?
Police Scotland has named the banned poison, so yes.
funny isn’t it, when a disgruntled shooter puts poison down the gamekeeper’s were on it immediately. I wonder why the gamekeepers missed this?
Very upsetting poor bird it’s never going to stop it’s obviously easy to get hold of and do this without serious consequences nothing will ever change the country is vast and lawless to say the least
Admirably fast police work in this case. Dead bird reported on 6th, cause of death discovered, and information released, calling for witnesses on the 7th. Huge difference from the long timescales reported on many other cases.
The dead bird was found 6th September, not 6th October.
But even so, yes, still a relatively fast turnaround from Police Scotland and the toxicology lab.
This might be stating the obvious to people bt; Although a positive event – an amnesty to hand in / have collected banned substances / poisons (as carried out in Scotland) would have been a partial waste of time as those intent on using them illegally / poisoning wildlife would simply fail to declare them.
Note: It said that at one amnesty event 5 people handed in / had collected carbofuran totaling 80kg, (what I read didn’t mention any carbosulfan) that amounts to an insane level of potential killing per person. (don’t know what quantities it’s sold in)
“This might be stating the obvious to people bt; Although a positive event – an amnesty to hand in / have collected banned substances / poisons (as carried out in Scotland) would have been a partial waste of time as those intent on using them illegally / poisoning wildlife would simply fail to declare them.”
You are absolutely correct, but we still have to have amnesties because anyone still in possession, and – for whatever reason(!) – deciding to get rid of it, we need a way to dispose of it safely… because these substances are so very dangerous, especially in concentrated form.
It also makes any subsequent prosecution for possession that little bit more straightforward.
Notes: Carbosulfan is closely related to Carbofuran.
Although banned for use in the UK from 2008, and banned for use in the EU since 2007, I can tell you it is still manufactured in the UK for export outside of the EU and UK.
So long as something is manufactured here, it will always be available through criminal networks, if the money is right:-(
And never automatically believe Google AI: it does not know how to discriminate between truth and fiction:-(
“AI Overview
No, carbosulfan is not manufactured in the UK because its use has been banned in the UK since 2008. The European Union banned its use in 2007, and the UK has supported the classification of carbosulfan as a dangerous pesticide under the Rotterdam Convention”
Good points in favour of amnesties Keith. (I’m against AI (but I think I use it for bird song identification + plant identification + probably without knowing) and would not automatically believe it) Thanks for the tip all the same, you’ve demonstrated AI can be full of it.