Utah condor death toll highest in years due to lead poisoning


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LEE'S FERRY, AZ — Lab testing has just confirmed that lead poisoning killed one of two California condors that died recently in Zion National Park. In all, seven of the giant birds have died in recent months, the worst death-toll since the species was rescued from extinction in the 1990's. Wildlife experts are now stepping up their efforts to educate Utah hunters because the leading cause of death is lead poisoning.

The fact that any California condors are still alive is a big success story. Three decades ago, the population of giant scavengers dwindled down to just 22 in the wild. Chris Parrish is the director of the recovery program.

"This bird's been around since the last of the ice age," Parrish said. "And it's still here. And it almost went by the wayside."

In a controversial rescue in the 1980's, all 22 condors were rounded up to see if they would breed in zoos, and they did. Releases back into the wild began in the 90's in California and along the Utah-Arizona border. Now they're dying again.

"It's been really bad lately. This is probably one of the worst periods that we've experienced. We've lost seven birds since early December," Parrish said.

That's seven dead out of 80 in the Utah area, leaving just 73. About half the Utah-Arizona birds have died or disappeared since 1996, the cause determined in 52 of them.

"And nearly 50 percent of all those diagnosed deaths are lead poisoning," Parrish said.

X-rays of the birds often show fragments of lead. Experts believe they are from lead bullets. When hunters shoot a deer or elk, they typically leave the entrails in the field. Condors love to eat the gut-piles, but testing has shown they're often laced with lead fragments.

Utah wildlife officials are formulating incentives so hunters will turn in deer entrails instead of leaving them to be dined on by condors. Both states are educating hunters, even giving out coupons for free non-lead bullets.

"We're not saying get rid of all the lead," Parrish said. "We're saying, for the lead that you're going to leave in the field, in the remains of a carcass or a varmint species, just use non-lead."

After decades of recovery efforts, the condors are just barely hanging on, and no one can say if they'll survive into the future.

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John Hollenhorst

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