Lets #GetTheLeadOut of Our Wildlife

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Let’s Get the Lead Out of Our Wildlife

Eugene, OR August 24, 2015

This month The International Wildlife Rehabilitation Council (IWRC) published a position statement advocating for the elimination of lead released into the environment via lead based ammunition and fishing tackle. Effective alternatives, such as steel shot, copper bullets, and tungsten fishing weights, are available in North American and European markets and becoming more widely accessible elsewhere.

Raptors and scavengers, including vultures, condors, and eagles are unintentionally poisoned when they eat the remains of animals hunted using lead ammunition. Loons and swans directly consume lead shot or fishing tackle while feeding. Changing to non-lead ammunition and fishing tackle can prevent scavenger poisonings and decrease the chance of aquatic poisonings. Because of lead shot and sinkers left in the mud of ponds and rivers, stopping future use will not completely resolve the poisoning of water birds.

The World Health Organization has listed lead exposure as unsafe at any level. Even sub lethal levels may cause immunological and neurological problems, biochemical and behavioral changes, and physiological disorders that may affect immune response and reproduction. Over 500 peer-reviewed papers demonstrate the deleterious effects of lead on wildlife.

“Wildlife rehabilitators are the first responders of the lead toxicity epidemic and we need to relate what we are experiencing every year”. IWRC Executive Director, Kai Williams comments. Ms Williams sits on the HSUS Lead-Free Wildlife National Advisory Council, along with hunters, scientists, and biologists.

END
###

Media Contact: Kai Williams director@theiwrc.org @malkahkai @theiwrc 866-871-1869 x1

Twitter hashtag: #GetTheLeadOut #leadpoisoning

Lead Poisoning Position Statement http://52.188.106.177/wp-content/uploads/2015/08/lead-statement.pdf

Photos (click individual photos for captions and version downloadable by press. Use only with this story)

WRCMN Wildlife Veterinarian Renée Schott performs a gastric lavage on a Trumpeter Swan suffering from lead poisoning. The lavage flushes the lead pellets out of the bird’s GI system. Courtesy of the Wildlife Rehab Center of Minnesota, wrcmn.org

Radiograph with arrows pointing to lead fragments — Radiograph showing a lead sinker and pellets/weights in the lower GI tract of a Trumpeter Swan. Courtesy of the Wildlife Rehab Center of Minnesota, wrcmn.org

Wildlife rehabilitator giving syringe of medication to a swan — WRCMN Vet Tech Julia Schmitz gives daily meds to a lead-poisoned Trumpeter Swan. Courtesy of the Wildlife Rehab Center of Minnesota, wrcmn.org

Bald eagle, standing but unsteady — Bald eagle recovering from lead poisoning at Raptor Education Group Inc (REGI) in northern Wisconsin. Photo Courtesy of Marge Gibson, REGI

Supine bald eagle — Northern Wisconsin bald eagle with lead poisoning. Photo Courtesy of Marge Gibson, REGI

Radiograph of lead fragments — Radiograph displaying lead fragments embedded in bald eagle. Photo Courtesy of Marge Gibson, REGI

About The IWRC (The International Wildlife Rehabilitation Council)

The IWRC is a 501c(3) nonprofit organization that provides science-based education and resources on wildlife rehabilitation to promote wildlife conservation and welfare worldwide. IWRC was founded in 1974 and has spent the last 41 years helping wildlife by training and supporting wildlife caretakers through our peer reviewed journal, classroom and online courses, standards, and manuals. IWRC training programs include course topics such as basic wildlife rehabilitation skills, nutrition, pain management, parasitology, and have been taught in over 10 countries.

Leave a Reply