The Steller’s sea eagle looks like a character that you might find in a fantastical children’s book rather than a real flesh-and-blood animal. It is jaw-droppingly huge, with striking dark and white feathers, a bright-yellow bill so large and powerful it seems almost prehistoric, and taloned feet roughly the size of a human hand. Found […]
Tag: lead ammunition
Africa’s vulture safe zones face tough test across vast landscapes
Protecting vulture populations in Africa presents some unique challenges for conservationists. These slow-breeding and ecologically vital scavengers range over vast territories and are vulnerable to poisons targeting other species and expanding infrastructure like power lines. Creating “vulture safe zones” has emerged as a way to address these broad and varied threats, but putting them into […]
Lead ammunition to be banned for hunting and shooting in England, Scotland and Wales
Shotgun pellets and bullets that contain lead are to be banned for almost all uses, ministers have said, in a long-awaited announcement welcomed by wildlife groups. The restrictions will be phased in over three years from 2026, rather than the five set out in an official report last year, prompting some shooting organisations to say […]
‘Devastating’: California condor dies of lead poisoning just months after release from L.A. Zoo
Tragedy struck the Yurok tribe’s condor restoration efforts when one of the critically endangered birds succumbed to lead poisoning — an entirely preventable, human-caused threat — just months after being released from the Los Angeles Zoo into the wild. The bird, Pey-noh-pey-o-wok, had been flying freely for only three months when he died in the […]
Promise to phase out lead from UK game shooting has failed, study finds
A voluntary promise to phase out toxic lead shot in the UK has failed, meaning wildlife and human health are being put at risk, a study has found. The vow, made in February 2020 by the UK’s nine leading game shooting and rural organisations, aimed to benefit wildlife and the environment and keep toxic lead […]
Wildlife groups urge UK government to ban lead ammunition
Wildlife charities have called on the government to ban the sale and use of lead in ammunition used for outdoor shooting. The Wildfowl & Wetlands Trust (WWT), RSPB, Wildlife and Countryside Link, Chem Trust and Wild Justice have sent an open letter to the environment secretary, Steve Reed, asking for a 18-month transition period for […]
Voluntary Lead-Free Ammunition Program Incentivizes Hunters
The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service will implement a voluntary, incentive-based program for hunters to use lead-free ammunition at seven National Wildlife Refuges for the fall 2024 hunting season. The announcement comes following years of scientific research indicating that lead ammunition and fishing tackle can negatively impact wildlife. In 2023, a special section in the […]
Lead poisoning continues to impact bald eagle populations in Pennsylvania and beyond
Reports of bald eagles dying from lead ammunition poisoning continue as populations of the formerly endangered bird soar. Bald eagle exposure to the pesticide DDT caused potential extinction a half century ago. And while the birds are no longer endangered and populations are still increasing, researchers say lead poisoning is taking a chunk of some […]