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Anticoagulant Rat Poisons Were Detected in 78% of Sampled Cape Town Caracals

Wild caracal standing in vegetation in Addo Elephant National Park, South Africa
Conservation · Threats

Anticoagulant rodenticides were detected in 78% of analysed liver samples from caracals (Caracal caracal) collected in and around Cape Town, South Africa. Detection in liver shows exposure and accumulation; it does not mean that every exposed animal suffered clinical poisoning. The study, first published online on 30 July 2026, analysed animals recovered over a ten-year period, most of them after vehicle collisions, to investigate how rat-poison exposure varied across the urban-edge landscape.

Most exposed caracals carried several rodenticide compounds

The researchers analysed samples from 102 caracal mortalities. Among exposed animals, the median was three different anticoagulant compounds, and some carried as many as six. Bromadiolone and brodifacoum, both second-generation anticoagulant rodenticides, were among the most commonly detected compounds. Older caracals generally had higher burdens, consistent with repeated exposure accumulating over time.

Exposure varied across the urban-edge landscape

Exposure was not distributed evenly across the landscape. Caracals using greener urban areas, wetlands and vineyards, and areas with more restaurants, cafés and other food-service outlets, tended to carry more rodenticide compounds or higher concentrations. The authors argue that the patterns are consistent with rodenticides moving through urban food webs, although the precise routes by which caracals are exposed remain unclear.

Exposure was not shown to be the cause of death

The study did not establish that rodenticides caused the deaths of the sampled caracals. Among subadult caracals, animals in poorer condition had higher total rodenticide loads, but this association does not show that exposure caused the poorer condition, and the authors note that sublethal effects — effects that do not directly kill the animal — remain unknown for the species. They nevertheless describe the widespread and repeated exposure as a conservation concern and recommend reducing routine use of persistent second-generation anticoagulant rodenticides, improving food and waste management and prioritising non-poison rodent control where possible.

Sources and image credit

  1. Leighton, G. R. M., Bishop, J. M., Camarero, P., Mateo, R., & Serieys, L. E. K. (2026). Toxic towns: Drivers of anticoagulant rodenticide exposure in an urban edge carnivore. Environmental Pollution, 407, 128859. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.envpol.2026.128859Primary peer-reviewed open-access research article first published online 30 July 2026. Liver samples from 102 caracal mortalities collected over ten years in and around Cape Town were analysed; anticoagulant rodenticides were detected in 78% of analysed samples, with landscape and food-service variables associated with exposure.
  2. University of Cape Town. (2026, August 19). Cape Town’s caracals expose a hidden rat poison problem for the city’s wildlife.Research-institution news release summarising the primary study, including sample size, prevalence, compound burden and landscape-risk patterns.

Image: Christiaan Viljoen — wild Caracal in Addo Elephant National Park, South Africa, 3 December 2019. Source: Wikimedia Commons / iNaturalist. CC BY 4.0. Representative species image; not a study animal. · CC BY 4.0 · Source

About this content: This story was produced with AI assistance within an editorial workflow developed by Wildlife Vagabond. Editorial responsibility remains with Wildlife Vagabond.How AI is used

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