Today just 279 condors exist including 70 wild birds in California. Yet despite millions of dollars and enormous effort, the condor remains imperiled. A leading threat to condor recovery is lead poisoning from ingestion of ammunition.

Since 1992, at least 6 California Condors are known to have died from lead poisoning with more suspected. And since 1997, 26 birds have required expensive medical treatment to remove lead from the blood.

A ban on lead ammunition would mean an opportunity for self-sustaining populations of California Condors in the wild. For at least seven years, education and incentive programs to promote a voluntary switch to copper ammunition have not reduced lead in condors.

Audubon California strongly supports AB 821 (Nava) and all efforts towards reducing lead in the environment.

Talking Points
* Carcasses and gut piles from hunters provide an invaluable food resource to condors throughout their range.

* Lead ammunition is highly toxic to California Condors and at least 48 other species, including Bald and Golden eagles.

* Lead fragments are difficult to completely remove from game, posing health risks to hunters and their families eating game.

* Lead alternatives, such as copper, have similar performance qualities.

Sample Letter on Lead Ammunition Ban

Subject: Save Condors- Support AB821

Dear Assembly Member or State Senator:

As a member of my local Audubon Chapter, and on behalf of Audubon California's nearly 60,000 members, I am writing to urge you to support AB 821 (Nava) to protect California Condors. As you know, the State and Federal Governments have worked for several decades to recover the California Condor. Although those efforts have made great strides, they have been hampered by lead poisoning from ammunition, which poses a serious threat to condors. AB 821 is an important step to protect condors from lead contamination.

Reducing exposure to lead is critical to successful condor recovery. According to a recent report to the Department of Fish and Game, the risk of lead exposure is very high because of the amount of carrion (carcasses) left in the field after being shot with lead ammunition. Since reintroduction of condors into the wild in the early 1990s, at least six condors have died of lead poisoning and 26 condors have had to receive emergency treatment to reduce toxic lead levels. Every condor tested in California has had higher than normal lead levels, indicating that the birds are frequently exposed to lead in the wild, most likely from lead ammunition in the carrion that they consume.

Assemblyman Nava has taken suggestions from hunting, conservation and other groups to focus this legislation on the hunting of big game and deer in particular portions of California Condor habitat.

For all these reasons, I strongly urge you to support AB 821 to help save this symbol of California?s wilderness, the California Condor.

Sincerely,
[Your name]
[Your address]

Posted by: Diane Hichwa 

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