Three Peregrine chicks that hatched on Worcester Cathedral all died within a few weeks, earlier this spring. Two of the dead chicks were retrieved and sent for post mortem and the results have now shown they died from ingesting poison.
The name of the poison hasn’t been published but a statement by the group who monitor the adult Peregrines at Worcester Cathedral (‘Peregrine Falcons in Worcester’) says, ‘Both birds had internal bleeding consistent with death from poison‘, which suggests the poison was probably a Second Generation Anti-coagulant Rodenticide (SGAR).
The adult breeding pair (known as ‘Peter’ and ‘Peggy’) are fine.
The BBC News website has an article on the news (here) and states that West Mercia Police had received a report but the investigation has closed due to ‘evidential difficulties’.
A recent report written by Dr Ed Blane and published on the Wildlife Poisoning Research UK website shows that there has been a substantial increase in Peregrine exposure to SGARs, and especially to the poison Brodifacoum. The same issue is affecting Foxes and Otters.
This follows a report published last year ‘Collateral Damage‘ by Wild Justice which reported an alarming increase in SGARs exposure in Buzzards and Red Kites and was heavily critical of the Rodenticide Stewardship Scheme and how the government was ignoring the evidence.
As a result, the Health & Safety Executive, which controls the approval regime in the UK for rodenticides and decides what can and cannot be used, ran a public consultation in September 2025 to look at alternatives to SGARs.
The results of that consultation are awaited.
Raptor Persecution UK 
I was annoyed with the HSE consultation on SGARs because (a) wildlife organisations (Wild Justice) seemed to have received such short notice of the exercise, and (b) the HSE’s use of proprietary software made it awkward, to say the least, for the general public to respond (and publicised here, on your blog)
From your blog:
“I missed the (short) deadline because I’ve been dealing with something else, but I sent them an email, instead, to let them know my feelings… which they might just bin:-(“
About one month later I received an absolutely charming (and disarming) response from the HSE. It was quite long and detailed, but I will include some parts:
“Dear Mr Dancey
Thank you for taking the time to contact us regarding the consultation on alternatives to anticoagulant rodenticides. I appreciate you sharing your concerns about the environmental impacts of rodenticides and the information you have provided on alternatives to them.
HSE is committed to transparency in all our consultation processes. We absolutely do not want to withhold any consultation from public attention and I’m sorry if you received that impression. The consultation opened on 12 August 2025 and as is normal procedure, the HSE eBulletin service was used to communicate this to 55,000 subscribed stakeholders. A reminder about the consultation was also communicated on 4 September 2025. Anyone can subscribe to this service at no cost through hundreds of sign-up pages across our website. Additionally, searching for “consultation” on our website directs users to HSE’s Consultation Hub, which highlights all our consultation activity.
(me: the problem is where HSE issues crossover into environmental/wildlife spheres – it attracts a whole new demographic of concern)
The engagement we received demonstrates significant public interest in this important policy area, with 320 completed responses, of which 252 included detailed attachments. This represents a high engagement rate for consultations of this nature. However, I acknowledge that our current publicity methods may not be reaching all members of the public who have an interest in participating, and we are reviewing how we can improve our outreach approaches.
Regarding the use of .docx formats, I apologise that this created a barrier to your participation. Your point about excluding those who do not use Microsoft Word highlights an important accessibility consideration that we have not adequately addressed. The fact that you had to install additional software to participate demonstrates a need to improve our approach to inclusive consultation design.
Your feedback about the consultation being difficult to access, navigate and digest is particularly valuable as it has highlighted areas where we need to improve our consultation processes.
We recognise that accessibility and genuine public engagement must be considered from the outset of our communications planning. Your experience demonstrates that our current approach falls short of meaningful public consultation standards.
Thank you for persisting with your response despite the technical difficulties. All responses received on the impacts of anticoagulant rodenticides and the need for alternative methods are valid and important to our assessment process.
I would recommend subscribing to our free eBulletin service where we publicise important information, including on consultations such as this one.
Health and Safety Executive | Chemicals Regulation Division”
Thanks to Wild Justice – and to your blog – we have made an impact!
Interestingt that other Gov bodies have moved to an open document format over the years
Indeed. I don’t know if you looked at the consultation, but it was a real shambles, and on such an important subject…
Dreadful news. Sounds like DDT all over again. When will we ever learn? So much killing of animals we don’t like and the consequences affecting so much more.
Presumably an adult got a poisoned bird and fed it to the young? Or did someone go up there with poisoned bait? After the stamping on peregrine eggs incident earlier this year, I wouldn’t be surprised what some sick people would do.
YES I agree this will be foul play by the same sicko who stamped on the eggs but could not be identified yea right. Very few people have access to cathedral spire areas look at who has and join the dots.
Such an awful shame persecuted before their lives have begun these poisonous substances need to be seriously addressed and like you said Keith a complete shambles.