Wildlife Incident Investigations Scheme

[Gill Catton]

Fascinating!! I am just been reading the new updated 'wild birds and the law' as published by the RSPB when I stumbled across this little Gem:

"The Wildlife Incident Investigation
Scheme (WIIS) investigates the deaths of wildlife, including beneficial insects (YEY finally insects are getting some recognition!!) and some pets, throughout the UK where there is evidence that pesticide poisoning may be involved. The WIIS is used to monitor pesticide use after approval, so that product approvals can be revised if necessary. Evidence from the WIIS can also be used to enforce legislation on the use of pesticides and the protection of humans, food, the environment and animals. There is a freephone number to report suspected wildlife poisoning incidents: 0800 321600.

In England, the WIIS is co-rdinated by the Pesticide Safety Directorate. In Wales, WIIS is run by the Rural Inspectorate Wales. A Wildlife adviser decides whether an investigation should be started; this
permits the screening-out of incidents which may not involve pesticides. A field visit may be made to gather information to help in identifying the cause of the incident and to secure evidence.

After acceptance of an incident, and a field visit, any carcasses are taken to a local Veterinary laboratories Agency (VLA) Centre where a post-mortem examination may be undertaken. This may result in bacteriological or virological tests being undertaken to determine whether disease contributed
to the deaths. In cases where the VLA believe poisoning to have occurred, post-mortem findings and relevant tissues from casualties are forwarded to the Wildlife Incident Unit at the Central Science Laboratory (CSL), York, where chemical analysis of the tissues is carried out. The results are collated
and interpreted to assess the probable cause of the incident and whether any residues detected contributed to the death or illness of the animal."

Worth knowing and absolutely worth getting involved in if it means advice on pesticide use is kept up to date - hopefully if everyone's more vigilant we wn't have another DDT type scenario...