I know it must be true I read it on the internet. Please do not assume that everything you read on the internet is true. Please do not make silly assertions about lead altering DNA. If you do insist on making wild claims, at least do us the courtesy of providing links to the scientific studies that support you claims. If you do not supply support, then your claims are merely opinions. And everyone knows the adage concerning opinions.
There was a guy on AGN last year making similar claims regarding lead. He even had a website he created that plagiarized other works without accreditation. People will run across his webpage and bots and AI will reference it as "fact". It was mostly conjecture and BS promoting his agenda.
It prompted me to do a deep dive on lead..particularly in raptors. His claims were not supported by facts.
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The depuration rate of lead (or half-time for lead elimination from blood) has been estimated to be approximately two weeks in condors [37] and less than two weeks in common ravens [36].
Over an approximate 30 year period, there were 234 condor deaths..of which 114 were “presumed dead” after being missing for 365 days. I’m not sure how it can be stated that 51% of the 234 deaths can be attributed to lead poisoning..if 114 of the 234 were “assumed” dead and never found. So technically, there have only been 120 documented deaths from 1992 through 2021 (~30 years). Yet the nps.gov website states there have been 120 documented deaths from lead poisoning in the free flying population. 120 of 120 documented deaths are from lead poisoning is 100%. WTF. Only lead kills condors. NOT!
Head spinning from nps.gov triple-speak.
A study tracking effects of lead in large raptors (eagles, vultures, and condors) states lead is cleared to “normal “ trace levels within two weeks.
A study tracking CA condor mortality states 66% of condor deaths are attributed to ingesting DDT from dead marine mammals..whales, dolphins, and seals washed up on the CA coast. DDT is not cleared after it is consumed..it is cumulative.
Of the wild free-flying condor population 183 live in CA. Of the 28 deaths in the free-flying population, 16 occurred in CA. These numbers are for either 1 year or cumulative from 1995 or 1997. 13 mortalities occurred in the Central CA population. Of those deaths, it can be assumed 66% were from DDT..so 9 were from DDT and 4 deaths were from “other causes”. 3 mortalities occurred in the Southern CA population. So since their range is away from the coast, lets assume all 3 deaths were to “other causes”.
A total of 7 deaths in either one year or 27 years in there-flying CA condor population. 7 condors out of a population of 183. OMG..lead is killing everything!! Condors never grow old and die. Condors never get sick from anything other than lead. Condors don’t die from ingesting “trash”..like plastic bottle caps. Condors never fly into wind turbines or power lines. Condor never are attacked by predators like coyotes or mountain lions. Am I the only one that thinks this sounds totally ridiculous?
This article was written in 2012..5 years after Gov Schwarzenegger banned lead bullets in condor habitat in 2007. Curious is it not..all condors are captured 2 times a year. How is this done? Humans set out large animal carcasses to trap them. Doh! The researchers are literally creating a Pavlovian response in the condors by training them to see human activity like hunters around a dead animal as a dinner bell.
California Condor by Susan Haig (Washington, D.C., February 8, 2012) A new study authored by San Diego Zoo Institute for Conservation Research scientists has found that 67 percent of adult condor deaths are attributable to lead poisoning. Among the collaborators in the study were the U.S. Fish...
abcbirds.org
"In all likelihood, many more condors would likely have died from lead poisoning had it not been for the fact that all wild condors in California are normally captured twice each year, tested for lead poisoning and then treated if necessary," said Darin Schroeder, Vice-President for Conservation Advocacy for American Bird Conservancy (ABC), one of the nation's leading bird conservation organizations.
This study was published:: April 6, 2011
https://journals.plos.org/plosone/article?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0017656 Clinical signs associated with lead toxicity were not observed in any of our birds, although this may be difficult to assess in the field setting. In this study, 53% of golden eagle and 18% of turkey vultures sampled prior to implementation of the ban, and 18% of the golden eagles and 3% of turkey vultures sampled post-ban had blood lead concentrations consistent with subclinical lead toxicity (>20 µg/dL) [51]. Only one captured golden eagle had a blood lead concentration at a level that has been reported to cause lead poisoning and death in raptors (>100 µg/dL) [51]. Sampling of free-ranging birds using the capture methods we employed here may underestimate burdens of lead exposure and poisoning in scavenging and predatory bird populations, especially for birds with blood lead concentrations that are high enough to cause debilitation and preclude birds from flying and searching for food [52].
Predatory and scavenging birds may be exposed to high levels of lead when they ingest shot or bullet fragments embedded in the tissues of animals injured or killed with lead ammunition. Lead poisoning was a contributing factor in the decline of the endangered California condor population in the...
journals.plos.org
For anyone interested, the above link is one of the few scientifically done that is specific to CA Condors and their specific habitat.
Condors frequently feed on animal carcasses left behind by hunters, and ingest dangerously high levels of lead from ammunition. In the last 10 years, it is estimated that roughly 30 Condors have died from lead poisoning in this manner.
ca.audubon.org
Lead bullet have been banned in condor habitat since 2007.. In the last 10 years (1997-2007), it is estimated that roughly 30 Condors have died from lead poisoning in this manner.
www.nps.gov
TOTAL WORLD POPULATION = 537
Number of new wild-fledged chicks = 15
Number of birds newly released into the wild from captivity = 24
Number of mortalities in the free-flying population = 28
WILD, FREE-FLYING POPULATION TOTAL = 334
Southern California, USA Meta-Population [est. 1995]: Wild fledglings: 3, Releases: 4, Mortalities: 3, Total Size: 92
Central California, USA Meta-Population [est.1997]:
Wild fledglings: 6, Releases: 8, Mortalities: 13, Total Size: 91
WILD BIRD MORTALITY NOTES:
• From 1992 through 2021 (30 years) there have been 120 documented deaths from lead poisoning in the free flying population.
• Lead poisoning is responsible for 51 percent of the 234 condor deaths where a cause of death has been determined.
• An additional 114 free-flying condors have been presumed dead after missing for more than 365 days.
Best scientific data found
Interesting
The Refuge is closed to public access due to the sensitive nature of California condor recovery efforts and physical access limitations, like no public roads leading to the Refuge. Hopper Mountain National Wildlife Refuge was established in 1974 for the recovery of the endangered California...
www.fws.gov
Of questionable value..
www.nps.gov
Note: This blog post is not about horse health. Instead, it is a personal story about another animal I care deeply about. Please take some time to read and share this blog post. I truly believe this is an important and worthy cause.
horsesidevetguide.com
Only bullet found in gut..and it was because it was fed to the condor
www.nps.gov
N/A because it deals with condors outside of CA..Uses “models” and “estimates”
California condors (Gymnogyps californianus) released into the wild in Arizona ranged widely in Arizona and Utah. Previous studies have shown that the blood lead concentrations of many of the birds rise because of ingestion of spent lead ammunition. Condors were routinely recaptured and treated...
journals.plos.org
Published false data
California Condor by Susan Haig (Washington, D.C., February 8, 2012) A new study authored by San Diego Zoo Institute for Conservation Research scientists has found that 67 percent of adult condor deaths are attributable to lead poisoning. Among the collaborators in the study were the U.S. Fish...
abcbirds.org
FlightAware plane tracking
Map of area around Pinnacles NP
DuckDuckGo. Privacy, Simplified.
duckduckgo.com
Deer Success Rate
Deer Seasons
Deer Zone Map
All carrion eaters consume lead from game carcasses; their physical size or species should not matter. If lead is toxic to one species, it is toxic to all. One would assume a smaller animal would be even more greatly affected than a larger one.
Lead is found in many plastics. Plastic contains lead for pliability. Plastic particles are found in many fish and animal species..including humans. In ocean species, the top of the food chain has the highest concentrations of any bad chemical or heavy metal..like mercury and DDT in tuna and dolphins and seals. Why not lead from plastics? 66% of documented CA condor deaths are from DDT type chemicals found in the carcasses of dead marine mammals. If they eat marine mammal carrion, they consume plastic.
Question..How can DDT still be killing marine mammals so that they can be eaten by condors? When it was “banned” many steel 55gallon drums were dumped..drum-roll please..off the coast of California.
Barrels of DDT waste — along with other chemicals — were likely poured directly into the ocean near Catalina Island, according to federal regulators.
www.latimes.com
Question..Is it possible the lead killing condors is from aircraft engine emissions? How many of the condors killed by lead lived near small muni-airports? Leaded gas has been banned from cars since 1996..but not from leaded-fuel piston-engine aircraft.
Piston-engine aircraft remain the single largest source of highly toxic airborne lead.
www.nbcnews.com
Question..if lead from bullets is really killing condors, then why has it only recently become an issue? Lead has been used since the early 1800s to take all manner of game in CA. Settlers and farmers and ranchers engaging in subsistence hunting year-around until modern hunting laws were put in place in the early 1900s.
Question..If lead has been banned for hunting in CA since 2019, then why are condors still dying from lead poisoning? Effective July 1, 2019, non-lead ammunition is required when taking any wildlife with a firearm anywhere in California. It has been nearly four years since the lead ban implementation. I’m pretty sure condors are not still eating lead found in four year old animal carcasses.
Question..if lead is so darn deadly, then why are human hunters not suffering and dying in droves from lead toxicity? Given the x-rays showing bullet fragmentation, it is safe to assume human hunters also ingest lead.
Question..if lead bullets are the source of lead toxicity, why is there no record or evidence of a bullet ever being found in the gut of a dead condor?
Correlation is not causation.
Remember back in the 1970s, when environmentalists told us that logging old growth forests was responsible for the decline of the Spotted Owl? False. A larger invasive owl species was eating them.
Remember the Delta Smelt? Environmentalists told us that their decline was due to excessive water usage by farmers and ranchers. False. The smelt are being eaten by Striped Bass..a species not native to CA.
Remember in the 1970s when environmentalists told us that we would all die from human caused Global Cooling?
Remember in the 1990s when environmentalists told us that we would all die from human caused Global Warming?
Remember how environmentalists are currently telling us that we will all die from human caused Global Climate Change?
How many times do environmentalists get a pass for “Crying Wolf!”
Below is the URL to one of the research articles you’ve referenced. Notice the words used in the sentences I’ve cut from it. Words like: “however, estimates, proportions, statistical models, regression models, and approximate” do not engender confidence in the resulting conclusions.
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