Wildlife Crime: Figures expected to confirm increase.
More birds of prey are being killed with poison in Scotland, new figures are expected to reveal.
Environment Minister Roseanna Cunningham will unveil the statistics for 2009 on a visit to the Science and Advice for Scottish Agriculture centre near Edinburgh.
The rise will feature in a map detailing "hot spots" for wildlife crime in Scotland.
The figures, published by Partners for Action Against Wildlife Crime, outline the general locations for confirmed cases and totals over the past five years.
A Scottish Government spokeswoman said the figures will show an increase.
The spokeswoman said: "They show that illegal poisonings remain a problem in some parts of Scotland, threatening red kites, golden eagles, buzzards and sea eagles, and highlight the need for joint action in the fight against wildlife crime."
The first map of this kind was published in January last year, revealing that 132 birds of prey were poisoned since 2004, but they also showed an overall fall from a peak of 38 in 2004 to 16 in 2008.
The biggest hot spot over the period was in central southern Scotland, where 12 incidents were recorded. Other areas highlighted included the south east and the eastern Highlands.
