298 P Squires period of years, the number of raptors illegally killed on just one estate far exceeded the number of ‘official’ incidents recorded across the whole of Scotland’ (McMillan 2011) Whole areas of suitable habitat are thought to be devoid of breeding birds of prey, either directly exterminated or driven out by illegal activities In 2009, the number of confirmed illegal raptor poisonings hit a 20-year high, with 46 incidents Reported poisoning incidents show a regular annual pattern with a significant peak in the spring, followed by a smaller peak in the autumn The incidents depicted in Fig comprised the confirmed killing of 64 red kites, 24 golden eagles, six white tailed eagles, 344 buzzards, 24 peregrine falcons and four hen harriers Additionally, 313 other bird species were recorded as killed by carbofuran poisoning, and 104 other animals Part of the problem with poisoning as a means of killing is precisely its indiscriminate nature when left as bait Fully 85 % of persons convicted of illegal poisonings worked in a gamekeeping or estate management capacity Between 2003 and 2008, 157 cases were brought but only 24 made it to court Of these 21 resulted in a guilty verdict for at least one of the charges listed Many charges related to the possession of the banned pesticide carbofuran which, although prohibited in 2001, featured in 61 % of the confirmed poisoning incidents during 2009 Data gathered for the UK as a whole compiled through the Wildlife 50 45 40 35 30 25 20 15 10 89 990 991 992 993 994 995 996 997 998 999 000 001 002 003 004 005 006 007 008 009 1 1 1 1 1 2 2 2 2 2 19 Fig Confirmed Bird of Prey Poisoning Incidents in Scotland, 1988-2009 (RSPB Scotland 2009)