The birds become exposed to lead after accidentally ingesting spent ammunition

Apr 12, 2014 19:55 GMT  ·  By
Study finds lead poisoning is a leading cause of death among wild California condors
   Study finds lead poisoning is a leading cause of death among wild California condors

Specialists working with the Zoological Society of San Diego have recently completed an investigation into the threats that California's condor population is currently facing, and their findings are a tad troubling.

Thus, they argue that, according to evidence at hand, lead poisoning resulting from the accidental ingestion of spent ammunition is presently killing quite a lot of condors living in California.

Science Daily informs that, back in the 1960s, California was home to just a handful of condors. Hence, in 1966, the species was put on the Endangered Species Preservation Act.

Fast forward several decades, and, thanks to conservation efforts that included breeding these birds in captivity, the condor population has come to encompass more than 400 birds, over 200 of which live in the wild.

The trouble is that, according to researchers with the Zoological Society of San Diego, this wild condor population might not survive on the long run, and all because of lead poisoning. Thus, it is said that the accidental ingestion of lead-tainted ammunition is now the leading cause of death in wild California condors.

“After reviewing nearly 20 years of our mortality data on the free-ranging birds, it became clear that lead poisoning is the primary problem for the birds in the wild,” Bruce Rideout, the current director or the wildlife disease laboratories for San Diego Zoo Global told the press in a recent interview.

Researchers at the Zoological Society of San Diego are worried about the fact that, although lead ammunition appears to be killing only California's condors for the time being, it could happen that, sometime in the not so distant future, this source of environmental pollution will affect other species as well.

“This is not just a problem for California condors,” Bruce Rideout explained. “We can view them as an indicator species, warning us about the hazards of widespread lead contamination in the environment,” the specialist went on to argue.

The International Union for Conservation of Nature considers the California condor to be a critically endangered species. According to wildlife researchers, these creatures are North America's largest land birds. Thus, their wingspan measures about 3 meters (9.8 feet), and the average condor weighs about 12 kilograms (26 pounds).

Due to the fact that California condors are scavengers, they risk becoming exposed to lead and being poisoned by it should they come across and feast on animals that have been shot dead and that have ammunition inside their bodies.