Rat poison wreaking havoc: Keurboom Park’s latest owl death exposes 'much bigger ecosystem crisis'

Cape Talk's John Maytham chats to Dr Gabriella Leighton, a postdoctoral researcher at the University of Cape Town (UCT) and coordinator of the Urban Caracal Project.

Listen to their conversation in the audio clip below:

A fourth owl has reportedly died in Cape Town’s Keurboom Park, likely the victim of rat poison, raising serious concerns about toxic exposure across the city’s urban wildlife. 

Residents who place poison to control rat populations may unintentionally fuel a deadly chain reaction - rats consume the bait, owls eat the rats, and the poison travels up the food chain.

Leighton says owls are 'indicator species', showing the wider ecological impact of unregulated pesticide use. 

"When an owl dies in a local park like that, it's pointing to a much bigger ecosystem-level issue with poisoning."

- Dr Gabriella Leighton, Urban Caracal Project

She adds that the City of Cape Town also uses poisons in public parks, but limited data exists on what exactly is being deployed and in what quantities.

"There's a lot of household use of these poisons, but the City also does put out rat poison as part of its health and safety in a lot of the parks they manage."

- Dr Gabriella Leighton, Urban Caracal Project

"From a household use perspective, a lot of these poisons are available in shops; they are very easy to buy. These things are just not monitored or regulated that much."

- Dr Gabriella Leighton, Urban Caracal Project

Beyond rat poison, Leighton explains that Cape Town’s wildlife is exposed to a cocktail of pollutants - things like painkillers and other pharmaceuticals, DDT, PCBs, and heavy metals have all been detected in the local environment. 

She warns that the full impact of this chemical exposure is still unknown, but growing evidence suggests it could pose a long-term threat to urban biodiversity.

Scroll up to listen to the full conversation.