We were concerned to recently hear about a study conducted by the Mammal Society, the University of Exeter and the University of Sussex, which looked at the levels of plastic found in small mammal faeces (Click here for full article)
The threat of plastics is well documented amongst sea animals, but it can be hard for us to link plastic pollution as a threat to the Birds of Prey we look after. This research shows that samples from Wood Mouse, Field Vole and Brown Rat (all common prey species for UK Raptors) contained microplastics.
Whilst these microplastics may be too small for us to see without technology, they could be the cause of the drastic declines in Hedgehogs (which were also found to have plastic contamination in their faeces) that have led to them being listed as Vulnerable to Extinction.
This discovery could be contributing to declining mammal populations, but also to that of Birds of Prey, who rely on many of these species as a main source of food. This could potentially be linked to lower breeding success or overall survival, as plastic concentrations build up in the body. We already know that plastics leach chemicals into water, but the impact of these chemicals when ingested as less documented.
We will be following subsequent research closely and would like to encourage researchers to consider the long term impacts on the whole ecosystem, including apex predators.
Read the full report on Ingestion of plastics by terrestrial small mammals by following this link.