Zoological Society of San Diego Applauds Step to Protect
Wild Condors
March 7, 2007
On Saturday, February 24, Tejon Ranch Co., in collaboration with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, announced it was banning the use of lead bullets on its property. This ground-breaking step was taken as a means to reduce the threat posed by lead bullets to California condors and other wildlife. As an organization vested in the survival of the California condor, the California Condor Recovery Team applauds this measure and encourages more efforts to protect these beautiful birds as they are released back into the wild.
In 1983, the wild population of California condors was reduced to only 22 individual birds. This last remnant of a once thriving wild population was in imminent danger from the presence of lead in the environment.
"In the late 20th century we saw an already reduced population of California condors brought to the brink of extinction by lead bullets," said Mike Wallace, Ph.D., reintroduction specialist for the Zoological Society's center for Conservation and Research for Endangered Species (CRES). "These lead bullets were being left in the environment in carcasses which were being eaten by condors and the condors were dying from the poison in their system."
Since that time, California condors have been successfully bred in captivity and released back into the wild. However, researchers continue to see wild birds that sicken and die from ingesting lead bullets in their environment.
"We have raised more than 130 California condors at the San Diego Zoo's Wild Animal Park," said Michael Mace, curator of birds for the Wild Animal Park. "It is heartbreaking to put so much effort and resources into raising healthy birds for release into the wild only to see them still being affected by the same problem that brought them to the brink of extinction. It is a positive step for the program to encourage the use of green bullets in condor habitat."
Zoological Society of San Diego experts point to findings in a February 2007 study showing that more than 44 percent of free flying condors in Southern California and more than 21 percent of such birds in Big Sur have elevated levels of lead in their bodies.
"This study demonstrates that lead, and particularly lead bullets, are still an imminent threat to condors and other birds of prey in California," said Dr. Wallace. "By banning lead bullets on their property, Tejon Ranch is taking a strong, positive step in protecting this species for our future."
