Vole infestation worsens despite controversial poison use

There were more voles this September than a year ago despite the extraordinary use of a rat poison environmentalists warned also endangers birds and other animals, including household pets, according to Central Inspection and Testing Institute of Agriculture (ÚKZÚZ) data.

Last month, ÚKZÚZ recorded an average of 1,059 active vole burrows per hectare of agricultural land – which includes fields, orchards, meadows and vineyards. In September 2019, the institute had found only 678 active burrows per hectare.

Last summer, the Ministry of Agriculture put a temporary ban on the blanket use of the Stutox II rat poison use after the Ministry of Environment warned of the threat it posed to wildlife. It later issued permits for its use where vole populations were five times the average size.

The Czech Ornithological Society warns that poisoned voles are easy but deadly prey for endangered Little Owls (Athene noctua), of which only some 100 pairs remain in this country.