# Lead poisoning?



## 22 Chuck (Feb 2, 2006)

AP  This image provided by the Los Angeles Zoo on Friday March 13, 2009, shows an X-ray of a California condor  
LOS ANGELES  A California condor captured because it appeared sickly was found to not only be suffering from lead poisoning but also had been shot, animal experts said Friday.
Unable to eat on its own, the condor was under intensive care at the Los Angeles Zoo and its prognosis was guarded, said Susie Kasielke, curator of birds.
X-rays taken at the zoo turned up shotgun pellets embedded in its flesh, she said. Those wounds had healed.
It could not be determined if the pellets were lead or steel, but the poisoning was most likely caused by the bird ingesting spent lead ammunition in carcasses of animals that had been shot by hunters, Kasielke said.
Condors are carrion-eaters and such poisoning by lead ammunition has long been recognized as a problem. California requires hunters to use only non-lead ammunition in the condors' range. It is also illegal to shoot a condor.
Giant California condors are an endangered species, and the federal government has been working for years to establish breeding populations in the wild.
The ailing condor, a nearly 7-year-old dubbed No. 286, was a dominant member of a flock on the central California coast until late January, when biologists from Pinnacles National Monument and the Ventana Wildlife Society noticed it was suddenly being pushed around by younger birds, the conservation society said.
Biologists tried to capture it because the behavior indicated health problems. They were unsuccessful until March 4, when it appeared wobbly on its feet. Tests showed a potentially fatal lead exposure and the condor was sent to the zoo.
Kasielke said that if the condor survives it would stay at the zoo for several weeks, but could be returned to the wild.
Exactly how long ago the bird was shot could not be determined, she said.
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On the Net:
U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service Endangered Species Program: http://www.fws.gov/endangered/i/b0g.html
Ventana Wildlife Society: http://www.ventanaws.org/
Calif. Department of Fish and Game: http://www.dfg.ca.gov/wildlife/hunting/condor/


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## john warren (Jan 25, 2005)

i wouldn't care if i had to shoot marshmallows at them. only thing i care about is that the round give me a fast, accurate and clean kill. its about respect for the animal. if they can prove lead is bad i would hunt with what ever was required. 
however,,, i would bet most of this is based on made up science and is more an effort to show what bad people hunters are, poisoning the condours.


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## hda31 (Nov 21, 2006)

your second part of your statement is the only true thing about these what these idiots are trying for. Playing on people's emotions for an endangered species is all they want to do to demonize hunters and gun owners. Makes me sick. We just need to unite and stay strong as they keep pushing against us.


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## DGF (Nov 23, 2000)

I have no doubt the intent of this article was to, as hda31 put it, "demonize hunters and gun owners." Fact is however, a poacher (not a hunter) did at some point in time shoot this condor. Poachers do give hunters a bad name, as it is my belief most non-hunters don't differentiate between us hunters and poachers. 

As far as the lead poisoning goes, I do believe a better compromise to the possible problem would be hunters burying the entrials of the game after the animal is field dressed. This was mentioned as a solution however the ban on lead ammo was still imposed in some areas. 

Is it possible a piece of the shot, if actually lead, could have caused the lead poisioning? Could the presence of lead shot stuck in the tissue of the bird somehow cause the lead poisoning, not the use of lead on legal game whose entrials were later eaten by a condor? Hmmm...

~Dan~


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