Direct evidence of poison-driven widespread population decline in a wild vertebrate

Toxicants such as organochlorine insecticides, lead ammunition, and veterinary drugs have caused severe wildlife poisoning, pushing the populations of several apex species to the edge of extinction. These prime cases epitomize the serious threat that wildlife poisoning poses to biodiversity. Much of the evidence on population effects of wildlife poisoning rests on assessments con-ducted at an individual level, from which population-level effects are inferred. Contrastingly, we demonstrate a straightforward relation-ship between poison-induced individual mortality and population changes in the threatened red kite (Milvus milvus). By linking field data of 1,075 poisoned red kites to changes in occupancy and abun-dance across 274 sites (10 x 10-km squares) over a 20-y time frame, we show a clear relationship between red kite poisoning and the decline of its breeding population in Spain, including local extinc-tions. Our results further support the species listing as endangered, after a breeding population decline of 31% to 43% in two decades of this once-abundant raptor. Given that poisoning threatens the global populations of more than 2,600 animal species worldwide, a greater understanding of its population-level effects may aid biodi-versity conservation through increased regulatory control of chem-ical substances. Our results illustrate the great potential of long-term and large-scale on-ground monitoring to assist in this task.