OUR NATIONAL BIRD HAS LEAD POISONING

OUR NATIONAL BIRD HAS LEAD POISONING

Written by Peter Boykin on February 20, 2022

OUR NATIONAL BIRD HAS LEAD POISONING

Shared By Peter Boykin – American Political Commentator / Citizen Journalist

Let’s take a little detour from our regular schedule politics to discuss our national bird: the bald eagle.

Half of the bald eagles in the United States have lead poisoning. This is according to a new study published in the journal Science. The study examined 1,210 eagles and found “more than half of the adult birds had bone lead concentrations above 10 parts per million, which pathologists define as chronic lead poisoning.”

46% had chronic lead poisoning, in their bones
27% had acute lead poisoning, in their liver, blood, and feathers

But why are they getting exposed to lead?

Scientists believe eagles consume the lead as they scavenge the remains of animals that have been shot with lead ammunition.

Todd Katzner, co-author of the study, said: “Science has known for many years that birds of prey, especially scavenging birds of prey, are exposed to lead.”

The big picture: Lead is a neurotoxin that can impair the eagle’s balance and stamina, reducing its ability to fly, hunt, and reproduce.

As a result: the study predicted a 4% reduction in population growth each year.

What can we do? I won’t tell anyone their business when it comes to hunting, but there has been a considerable effort by conservationists to switch to non-lead ammunition like copper when hunting, to prevent birds from consuming the lead fragments.

We’ve saved the bald eagles once, we can do it again. As recently as the 1960s, there were only 417 breeding pairs of bald eagles left in the United States. Thanks to conservation efforts, the population has soared to 71,400 nesting pairs and more than 300,000 individual birds.

[Source: Daily Wire, Waking Up Right]

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