Abstract
A bearded vulture (Gypaetus barbatus) found dead in northern Spain presented external lesions consistent with electrocution as the cause of death. During forensic examination, macroscopic lesions suggested potential comorbidity, so samples were collected for molecular and toxicological analyses. Gastric content and liver were analysed for toxic substances, and pentobarbital (a common pharmaceutical used for euthanasia in domestic animals) was detected at a concentration of 37.3 and 0.05 µg/g, respectively. Other toxicological, viral and endoparasite analyses (avian malaria, avian influenza and flaviviruses) were negative. Thus, although the cause of death was electrocution, pentobarbital intoxication likely impaired the equilibrium and reflexes of the individual, possibly causing the bird to contact energized wires that it would not have otherwise. These results underline the importance of comprehensive analysis of forensic cases of wildlife deaths and reveal barbiturate poisoning as an additional threat for the conservation of the bearded vulture in Europe.
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Acknowledgements
Authors acknowledge Life Pro BV LIFE 20 NAT/ES/001363 financed by European Union LIFE program. Preliminary results were presented as an Abstract at the 24th Spanish Toxicology Congress, Córdoba, 9–11 November 2022. Authors acknowledge José Carlos González Ruiz and Javier Gil Vaquero from the FCQ for providing the pictures included in supplementary information and graphical abstract.
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European Union LIFE program, Life Pro BV LIFE 20 NAT/ES/001363.
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Marta Herrero-Villar: Performed research, Analyzed data, Writing - Original Draft. Inés S. Sánchez-Barbudo: Performed research, Analyzed data. Teresa Cardona-Cabrera: Performed research, Analyzed data, Writing - Review and Editing. Ursula Höfle: Analyzed data, Conceived study, Writing - Review and Editing. Alberto Sánchez-Cano: Performed research, Analyzed data. Gerardo Baguena: Performed research, Project administration, Funding acquisition. Rafael Mateo: Analyzed data, Conceived study, Writing - Review and Editing. All the authors reviewed the manuscript.
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Herrero-Villar, M., Sánchez-Barbudo, I., Cardona-Cabrera, T. et al. Pentobarbital intoxication as a potential underlying cause for electrocution in a bearded vulture. Vet Res Commun 47, 2265–2269 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11259-023-10093-2
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11259-023-10093-2