Sierra Blogging Post Archives

A large number of bald eagles (almost half the total breeding population) in Iowa have fallen sick lately. Poisoned by lead bullets, most of the sick eagles will either die or become permanently disabled.

Because hunters often leave wounded deer in the woods, and eagles often eat deer carcasses, eagles have been ingesting significant amounts of lead from bullet fragments. Lead, even in very small amounts, is toxic to eagles.


"They started testing the blood and they are finding out that they had very high levels of lead — a neurotoxin," Plymouth County Naturalist Victoria De Vos said. "It was basically paralyzing them in different ways."

When a bullet enters a deer, it splinters and the lead seeps out into the body. It's also quite common for people to ingest lead while eating venison. In fact, officials have warned pregnant women and small children not to eat venison shot with lead bullets. Lead is particularly dangerous for children as it messes with their cognitive development. And for eagles, ingesting lead can be fatal.

"Two hundred milligrams is lethal to them. That's a baby aspirin size piece," said Kay Neumann, executive director at Saving Our Avian Resources (SOAR). "They have such efficient digestive systems, it goes straight to their blood."When they come in, they can't stand up, their stomach lining is ulcerated and they're puking green, some come in blind and they're usually gasping for air — the lead interferes with the oxygen in their blood, so they're starting to suffocate. It's horrible."

Eagle protection agencies are urging hunters to replace their lead ammunition with copper bullets. Copper ammunition, though slightly more expensive, is much safer for the environment and could save countless eagles from a painful fate. "An eagle can eat an entire copper slug and be OK," she said.

Seems like a no-brainer to me. What do you think?