Monitoring rodenticide exposure in live carnivores

Anticoagulant rodenticides have been detected in many species of wildlife worldwide.In California, anticoagulant rodenticides are considered to be of high regulatory concern and are considered highrisk for wildlife.The current monitoring system that provides information on rodenticide exposure to the Department of Pesticide Regulation (DPR) has a number of limitations.Only sick, injured or dead animals are examined, so the overall prevalence of exposure cannot be determined at the population level.A proposed system of monitoring will be discussed that will provide DPR with an index of the rate of exposure over time from the proportion of positive animals out of the total number of animals tested from wild populations.The samples were collected haphazardly from free-roaming, live individuals in the wild and, for the first time, the monitoring does not rely on samples from sick or injured animals or carcasses.