Hunters can get the lead out
It’s a sad irony, but as the Ventana Wildlife Society and
Pinnacles National Monument staffs prepared for a free shooting
event intended to let people gauge for themselves how effective
non-lead ammunition is, another member of the Pinnacles California
condor flock was captured and shipped off to the Los Angeles
Zoo.
The reason: lead poisoning. The bird had levels of lead in its
system high enough to be lethal, according to Jim Petterson,
supervisory wildlife biologist at Pinnacles.
Hunters can get the lead out
It’s a sad irony, but as the Ventana Wildlife Society and Pinnacles National Monument staffs prepared for a free shooting event intended to let people gauge for themselves how effective non-lead ammunition is, another member of the Pinnacles California condor flock was captured and shipped off to the Los Angeles Zoo.
The reason: lead poisoning. The bird had levels of lead in its system high enough to be lethal, according to Jim Petterson, supervisory wildlife biologist at Pinnacles.
The free event that allows marksmen to decide for themselves about alternatives to lead ammunition is set for June 28 at Laguna Seca, 1025 Monterey-Salinas Highway, between Salinas and Monterey.
Concern about lead contamination led the state to impose a ban on lead bullets in condor habitat, effective July 1.
And while bullet fragments are among the biggest threats to the severely endangered California condor – the biggest bird in North America – there’s another reason for hunters to give lead ammunition a second thought.
An article last week in the Los Angeles Times detailed meticulous research linking elevated levels of lead in children to a higher incidence of arrest for violent crimes.
It’s long been understood that lead can lower human intelligence over time, but the study by Cincinnati researchers tracked blood lead levels before birth and through the first seven years of life, correlating levels with arrest records and brain size down the road. They conclude that lead plays a major role in influencing crime.
Most of the 310,000 American children between 1 and 5 showing elevated lead picked it up from older, lead-based paints, according to the report.
But x-ray examination of game animals shot with lead bullets show that they can fragment into a cloud of tiny particles. One shot on the Pinnacles National Monument Web site shows a deer containing more than 600 individual fragments, many of them too small to detect.
Since most hunters regard themselves as conservationists, and many hunt out of a desire to put wholesome food on the table that was raised without antibiotics or hormones, it would seem to be an easy sell.
But legislating non-lead ammo in condor country has not been without controversy.
Non-lead bullets are reportedly difficult to find in many areas. And alternatives to lead are not available at all in .22 caliber size, which is popular for shooting ground squirrels and small game. Finally, alternatives to lead are somewhat more expensive.
The June 28 event runs from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. and allows participants 18 or older to receive and shoot about 10 rounds of ammunition in one of several popular sizes. The Institute for Wildlife Studies has arranged for lunch. While the event is free, donations will be accepted.
The exhibition will allow shooters to compare lead and non-lead bullets directly, using their own firearms. Further information is available from the Institute for Wildlife Studies, at 524-6006.
