The peregrine falcon found dead on May 9 in the country of Bitche, in Moselle, has been poisoned.
The analyzes revealed the presence in the body of the raptor of carbofuran, a powerful neurotoxicant used as an insecticide, reports France Bleu Alsace this Sunday.
The pesticide in question has been banned from use in France since 2008.
The female had been discovered at the foot of a cliff, in the Northern Vosges.
Her two babies were still nesting above.
And this is not the first time that carbofuran has been used to kill hawks.
In 2018, several specimens had been poisoned in the same region, recalls the radio.
Falcons vs. pigeons
Questioned by our colleagues, Claude Kurtz, head of the SOS Faucon Pèlerin association, points to the responsibility of pigeon fanciers.
The latter would attack birds of prey to protect pigeon farms.
The president of the Woerth Rapid Society explains that he lost 65 birds in one year.
“The falcon is no longer huntable.
And when you protect something, you systematically increase the volume, ”says Rémy Bauer.
However, according to specialists, peregrine falcons are still threatened.
Only a very small number remain in this Moselle sector.
The species is said to have come close to extinction in the 1970s.
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