Fight to protect California condors from lead ammunition moves to Arizona

[jody]

Fight to protect California condors from lead ammunition moves to Arizona

It has been 22 years since the last 22 California condors (Gymnogyps californianus) were collected from the wild and placed in captive breeding programs. The species, which nearly went extinct due to habitat loss, poaching, DDT and lead poisoning, has since rebounded to 332 birds, according to counts maintained by the Zoological Society of San Diego. But despite that conservation success, condors still face a major threat from lead poisoning, which often occurs when the birds eat carcasses killed by hunters' lead ammunition.

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To help the endangered birds, California banned the use of most lead ammunition in condor habitats in 2007. This year, the CBD filed a lawsuit to institute a similar ban on federal lands around the Grand Canyon in Arizona, where about a third of the world's wild California condors live. The CBD argues that the U.S. Department of the Interior's Bureau of Land Management and Fish & Wildlife Service are violating the Endangered Species Act by allowing the use of toxic lead ammunition in the condor's protected habitat.

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But is the NRA's science strong enough? "The science is in on lead in wildlife and other carnivores. There's no debate," says the CBD's Miller. "The only debate is over what makes sense from a policy point of view. There are alternative ammunitions, which are becoming more widely available, and their cost is coming down. Switching from lead is no problem."

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California's lead-ammo ban has already been a success, at least in terms of acceptance by hunters. Earlier this year, the state's Fish and Game Commission reported that 99 percent of hunters they field-checked were in compliance with the new laws. "The irony is that hunters play an important roll in the recovery of condors," Miller says. "Condors feed primarily on hunters' carcasses. Hunters love copper bullets. There's no reason to keep using lead."

[baldguy]

1. "NRA science"? Such a thing is called an oxymoron - or a non-sequitur.

If it's being pushed by conservatives, it's probably not science.

[Pavulon]

2. Lots of data that solid copper slugs

are perfectly happy doing what lead core bullets do now. They cost a bit more but if lead becomes a problem they will fall in price. In rifles a cnc machined rifle slug is far more accurate than its lead core counterparts.

[Euromutt]

6. That's a bit of a cheap shot

Fact is, ideology doesn't get along with science, regardless of where on the political spectrum that ideology finds itself. There's no shortage of liberals who are opposed to vaccines (at least, for their own kids; let others take the risks to maintain herd immunity), and the organic farming lobby recently got the US Dept. of Agriculture to suppress a report on how GMOs would not be incompatible with sustainable, pesticide-free agriculture.

Conversely, ideology is quite happy to embrace scientific data when it suits that ideology's agenda. The fact that the NRA is happy to push certain findings because they suit the organization's agenda does not mean the science is by definition bad; it might be, but you can't discount it merely because of the source. And if I may be so bold, a willingness to dismiss science solely because it might support an agenda you disagree with is an anti-science attitude.

[Katya Mullethov]

3. "Condors feed primarily on hunters' carcasses."

Who is killing all these hunters and why havent I heard of it ? Is it the Mexican pot growers ?
It would certainly be a strange twist of fate if the California Condor owed its survival to the unintended consequences of the WOD's .

Similar to Pablo Escobar's now wild hippo herd reproducing in South America . Eventually they will start chomping the locals and get shot , but they' might not get them all . And then you have yet another population .

[PavePusher]

5. Bwaaaaaahahahahahaha......

That there was funny, uh-huh....

[Euromutt]

4. I'm not unsympathetic to concerns over the California condor

I'm active in wolf conservation myself, with a particular interest in the Mexican gray. But I think the NRA has certain legitimate concerns in this matter.

The first is that there is a limited number of manufacturers of lead-free hunting ammunition, and therefore a limited supply and selection. If your hunting weapon of choice happens to be in a slightly unorthodox caliber, you may be SOL. This is not made any better by the passage in California of AB 962, which will go into effect in 2011 and makes it illegal to purchase ammunition via internet/mail order. That makes acquiring the right caliber of lead-free ammunition significantly more difficult.

Another point to consider is the ban on using hunting ammunition containing lead in condor areas only went into effect in July 2008, so there hasn't been that much time to evaluate how much of a difference it's been making. And the NRA does point out that the reintroduction of the California condor to Arizona was accepted in part on assurances that it would not affect hunting.

Okay, I acknowledge that it's entirely possible that the NRA is allowing its agenda to skew its interpretation of the available scientific evidence, but I'm not prepared to assume that the CBD isn't doing that as well, and frankly, the piece linked to in the OP practically reads like a CBD press release; it is entirely one-sided. I'd like to see some of the actual science, rather than reading what the CBD and NRA's interpretations of the science are.

I consider myself pro-conservation, but I acknowledge that when demands are made for the sake of conservation that turn out to be unreasonable, it can hurt the cause in the long run by raising resistance to future reintroduction programs. And that what I'm concerned may be happening here.

[westerm]

7. So..

Can anyone tell me, in the least-biased way possible, if lead ammunition is really a serious problem? If it is actually killing these birds, then I see nothing wrong with requiring lead-free ammo in condor habitats - however, everything I've seen seems to suggest that this lead-ammo ban is just a backhanded way of getting people to stop hunting by driving the cost up. Also it seems like an easier way of accomplishing the same thing without making hunting much more expensive is just to mandate that hunters pack out anything they kill.

[X_Digger]

8. Agreed.. if there is are dead unclaimed carcasses..

.. then there are some really bad hunters out there.

[Redneck Socialist]

9. Color me skeptical...

I've long been doubtful of the claims that condors are being poisoned by lead from lost game.

That being said there are alternatives to lead bullets and shot, however if your hunting arm of choice is an odd caliber you may have a hard time finding bullets for it.

<shrug>

Not an issue I get too worked up over either way.

[Tejas]

10. Is there another side to this story?

"where about a third of the world's wild California condors live"

Maybe these condors in Arizona are trying to tell Kali something.

[Tejas]

11. the Brady is

strong with this one.



"California's lead-ammo ban has already been a success, at least in terms of acceptance by hunters."

Would someone please point out where the hunters had a choice when it came to shoving legislation on Kali's subjects?

[Euromutt]

12. Well, yeah, good point

Okay, fine, so 99% of current hunters in California are in compliance with the law. But how many active hunters are there now, compared to before the lead ban going into effect? If the number of hunting licenses sold in California has dropped precipitously, while licenses in Nevada in Arizona have gone up by roughly the same amount, then you're likely looking at California hunters who haven't embraced the lead ban, but simply gone somewhere where they can do the same thing they used to do without breaking the law.

[Tejas]

16. To accompany your analysis,

there might be hunters like my friend in Houston that hunts with both a 1941 and 1949 Ithaca 37's. No way you'll talk him into using steel shot in those barrels. Yes, they're Ithaca's and likely proofed but still....

[benEzra]

13. I wonder if we should consider fighting to have the restrictions on lead alternatives removed...

given that copper, bronze, etc. bullets in some of the most popular rifle calibers (up through .308 Winchester) are banned by the 1986 Federal "cop killer bullet" law, as extended to cover rifles by the BATFE in 1994.

[jody]

14. Thanks for making that point. n/t

[Katya Mullethov]

15. Dont you mean steel core ?

http://www.google.com/products?q=barnes+triple+shock+solids+&hl=en&aq=f

http://www.google.com/products?q=solid+brass+bullets+bmg&hl=en&aq=f

[benEzra]

17. I may be wrong, but I don't think it would be legal to sell loaded ammo with those bullets in .223.

The BATFE considers .223/5.56x45mm, 7.62x39mm, and .308/7.62x51mm to be handgun calibers for purposes of the 1986 AP bullet ban, and bullets with more than a certain percentage of non-soft materials are prohibited in those calibers, as I recall.