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Defenders in Action: Protecting Condors by Getting the Lead Out
North America's largest bird now has a fighting chance at survival, thanks to California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger's approval of state legislation that requires the use of non-lead ammunition when hunting in condor habitat.
Lead poisoning is the primary impediment to the recovery of the California condor—which was once on the verge of extinction with just 22 individual left in the world by the mid-1980s. Condors and other carrion feeders suffer from poisoning when they ingest lead bullet fragments in animal carcasses left in the field.
Some 276 cases of lead poisoning have been documented in California condors since 2000 with at least four confirmed deaths, says Pamela Flick, California program coordinator for Defenders of Wildlife. Dozens more deaths are likely linked to lead exposure.
"We applaud Gov. Schwarzenegger for taking this important action to protect California's iconic condor from lead poisoning—its most substantial obstacle to recovery," says Flick, who, along with other Defenders' staff, helped draft the bill, testified at committee hearings and lobbied key state legislators as well as the governor's staff to ensure the bill's passage. "With a stroke of his pen, the governor has taken a significant step toward protecting our endangered wildlife and people from this toxic substance."
The new law will go into effect July 1.
