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The Latest: California is first state to ban lead ammunition to protect condors
High Country News ^

Posted on 12/10/2013 12:06:47 PM PST by RC one

California condors were nearly extinct by the 1980s. Thanks to habitat loss, wanton shooting, egg collecting, and the scavenger's propensity for eating animal carcasses tainted by lead bullet fragments, fewer than 30 remained. After decades of captive breeding, about 200 condors now fly free in central California, Utah, Arizona and Mexico. But death by lead poisoning remains a significant threat, preventing condor populations from flourishing without human intervention ("Getting the lead out," HCN, 5/5/07)

Followup On Oct. 11, California became the first state to ban lead ammunition for hunting, expanding a partial lead-ammo restriction in the bird's range. But the controversial rules won't fully go into effect until July 2019. The ban comes as the Los Angeles Zoo treated 21 condors for lead poisoning in October, a record high. Meanwhile, Utah and Arizona are trying to get the lead out with voluntary incentive programs for hunters.


TOPICS: Outdoors; Pets/Animals; Science
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In related news: Federal wildlife officials announced they will allow wind producers in California’s Tehachapi Mountains to kill endangered California condors without fear of prosecution.

and also in related news: Obama Administration Allows Killing of Federally Protected Eagles

1 posted on 12/10/2013 12:06:47 PM PST by RC one
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To: RC one

And just in time, too! I understand the California Condor is already extinct here in Wisconsin!


2 posted on 12/10/2013 12:07:41 PM PST by Dr. Sivana (There's no salvation in politics.)
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To: RC one

Chop ‘em up with windmills, though.


3 posted on 12/10/2013 12:08:18 PM PST by Uncle Miltie (I Love 0bamaCare! It proves government incompetence forever.)
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To: Uncle Miltie

Maybe the chop-props aren’t made out of lead?


4 posted on 12/10/2013 12:09:18 PM PST by Cyber Liberty (H.L. Mencken: "The urge to save humanity is almost always a false front for the urge to rule.")
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To: RC one

The criminal element could care less about this ban.


5 posted on 12/10/2013 12:09:41 PM PST by Starboard
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To: RC one

Maybe they should raze all houses built during the lead-paint era. If a California Condor is stupid enough to eat a bullet, it might be stupid enough to eat flaking paint.


6 posted on 12/10/2013 12:09:45 PM PST by Dr. Sivana (There's no salvation in politics.)
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To: RC one

Wait till those electric generating windmills whack a few condors!

Reminds me of some government somewhere who banned farming to save a bird. So the people went out and killed all those birds so they could farm again.


7 posted on 12/10/2013 12:12:05 PM PST by Ruy Dias de Bivar (Sometimes you need 7+ more ammo. LOTS MORE.)
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To: RC one

The headline is a bit misleading since it doesn’t mention the ban is only for hunting. If you didn’t read to the second paragraph you wouldn’t know that.


8 posted on 12/10/2013 12:12:11 PM PST by Hugin
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To: RC one

Will they let you go back to using lead bullets after the windmills kill all the condors?


9 posted on 12/10/2013 12:12:55 PM PST by tacticalogic
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To: Dr. Sivana

Feeding lead to wild condors should be a crime.


10 posted on 12/10/2013 12:13:57 PM PST by Buckeye McFrog
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To: RC one

What about the wind-farms?


11 posted on 12/10/2013 12:14:22 PM PST by Parmy
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To: RC one

I bet there are all sorts of non-lead bullets that can knock a condor out of the air!


12 posted on 12/10/2013 12:14:50 PM PST by Ruy Dias de Bivar (Sometimes you need 7+ more ammo. LOTS MORE.)
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To: RC one

Again with the condors?! Shouldn’t they have all died by now?


13 posted on 12/10/2013 12:15:01 PM PST by discostu (This is Jack Burton in the Pork Chop Express, and I'm talkin' to whoever's listenin' out there.)
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To: discostu
Shouldn’t they have all died by now?

Reruns of The Beverly Hillbillies had convinced me they had all died out by 1962.


14 posted on 12/10/2013 12:18:18 PM PST by Buckeye McFrog
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To: All

Oh, what a problem it is being a liberal...

Birds or windmills?

http://www.vcstar.com/news/2012/apr/21/condors-may-stand-in-way-of-growing-wind-power/


15 posted on 12/10/2013 12:18:48 PM PST by az_gila
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To: RC one

“the scavenger’s propensity for eating animal carcasses tainted by lead bullet fragments”

This would suggest that hunters are leaving mulie carcases on their hunts? I need to see a little more data before I’ll accept that there are enough bullet-riddled animal carcases to be a problem.

But non-hunters might believe this.


16 posted on 12/10/2013 12:19:25 PM PST by DBrow
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Isn’t a condor simply a vulture with better PR?


17 posted on 12/10/2013 12:19:38 PM PST by dsrtsage (One half of all people have below average IQ. In the US the number is 54%)
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To: RC one
California is first state to ban lead ammunition to protect condors disarm citizens.
18 posted on 12/10/2013 12:20:13 PM PST by RedMDer (Happy with this, America? Make your voices heard. 2014 is just around the corner. ~ Sarah Palin)
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To: Hugin

Copper bullets are pretty awesome anyways. A smart bullet manufacturer would make lead core target ammo that closely approximates the flight characteristics of various all copper projectile so folks could afford to practice with the bullets that they hunt with thereby decreasing lead in the environment and wounded animals. I find it hard to believe that Condors are eating lead bullets from high powered rifles anyways. Those bullets rarely stay in the carcass. Lead shot in wounded foul I can see though.


19 posted on 12/10/2013 12:21:45 PM PST by RC one
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To: Hugin
The headline is a bit misleading since it doesn’t mention the ban is only for hunting. If you didn’t read to the second paragraph you wouldn’t know that.

Try to find .22LR ammunition that doesn't have lead bullets. If you do find it, don't shoot it through a gun, as the barrels aren't hard enough steel for copper.

20 posted on 12/10/2013 12:23:12 PM PST by SampleMan (Feral Humans are the refuse of socialism.)
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