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.
and also in related news: Obama Administration Allows Killing of Federally Protected Eagles
And just in time, too! I understand the California Condor is already extinct here in Wisconsin!
Chop ‘em up with windmills, though.
Maybe the chop-props aren’t made out of lead?
The criminal element could care less about this ban.
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.
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.
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.
Will they let you go back to using lead bullets after the windmills kill all the condors?
Feeding lead to wild condors should be a crime.
What about the wind-farms?
I bet there are all sorts of non-lead bullets that can knock a condor out of the air!
Again with the condors?! Shouldn’t they have all died by now?
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/
“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.
Isn’t a condor simply a vulture with better PR?
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.
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.
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