Minnesota eagles fall prey to lead from hunters' bullets

[Musky Buck]

If our eagle numbers are high, I've heard that someplace that they are flourishing in MN, so I guess I don't quite get it.

[goblueM]

You think there is a problem (based on supposedlyunbiased scientific research) that requires a solution. I think the science is flawed, and backed by a anti-hunting agenda, thus creating the search for a solution (read: removal of lead) for a problem that really isn't there.

ah yes the good ol "flawed research" argument. From anti-hunting agencies such as USFWS and state DNRs even!

Debate all you want as to if banning lead shot for shotguns was worth the switch to steel, but its undeniable that lots of waterfowl die from ingesting lead.

[TylerS]

ah yes the good ol "flawed research" argument. From anti-hunting agencies such as USFWS and state DNRs even!

[BLACKJACK]

You can play the head in the sand approach all you want but just do a search on 'eagle lead poisoning', there are plenty of scientific papers written by biologists.

And excerpt from one:

Wildlife rehabilitators across the state of Iowa began gathering lead poisoning information on

Bald Eagles (Haliaeetus leucocephalus) in January 2004 for this ongoing project. Blood, liver, or bone

samples were analyzed for lead levels from 62 of the 82 eagles currently in the database. Thirty-nine eagles

showed lead levels in their blood above 0.2 ppm or lead levels in their liver above 6 ppm, which could be

lethal poisoning without chelation treatment. Seven eagles showed exposure levels of lead (between 0.1

ppm and 0.2 ppm in blood samples, between 1 ppm and 6 ppm in liver samples, and between 10 ppm and

20 ppm in bone). Several of the eagles admitted with traumatic injuries showed underlying lead exposure or

poisoning. Over fifty percent of the eagles being admitted to Iowa wildlife rehabilitators have ingested lead.

Behavioral observations, time-of-year data analysis, and x-ray information point to lead shrapnel left in

slug-shot White-tailed Deer (Odocoileus virginianus) carcasses to be a source of this ingested lead. With

thousands of Bald Eagles spending the winter in Iowa (up to one fifth of the lower 48 states population),

this poisoning mortality could be significant and is preventable. Educational efforts are being directed at

encouraging deer hunters to switch from lead to non-toxic (copper) slugs and bullets.