Critically Endangered Condors: Get The Lead Out!

For most hunters, the act of killing takes place when they pull the trigger. But across the United States, some ammunition keeps killing long after it leaves the gun barrel.

The victims are not the targeted animals but instead, critically endangered animals who—instead of soaring in the skies—are hovering on the brink of extinction.

Two decades ago, the California Condor was nearly extinct when biologists intervened and saved North America's largest wild bird from extinction. A mere 300 critically endangered condors remain, and only half of them fly free; the others are captive in breeding programs.

Today, the successful program to save the California condor is in jeopardy because the wild birds are ingesting lead bullets left by hunters. In fact, lead poisoning is the condor's leading cause of death.

A Toxic Meal

When hunters shoot big game animals like deer and pigs in the wild, they remove the animals' innards and leave them in the woods.  The scavenging condor arrives later and eats the pile of guts. The problem is, lead bullets are frequently left in the guts, and the condor ingests them.

This July, California rightfully took action to protect the condor by prohibiting lead shot in California condor territory—a measure that was fiercely opposed by the radical National Rifle Association. Also this year, food banks in several states pulled deer meat from their shelves because of lead contamination, and many other states have formed toxic shot advisory committees to take a hard look at the issue.

Many Call for a Nationwide Ban

The fact is, condors are not constrained by California state lines, and they soar into neighboring states. Voluntary programs regulating lead shot in some areas have resulted in significant reductions in lead usage, and lead shot has been banned in waterfowl hunting throughout the U.S. since 1991. But this is not good enough.

The Humane Society of the United States called for a nation wide lead ban in June of 2008, the same time The Wildlife Society completed a technical review entitled Sources and Implications of Lead Ammunition and Fishing Tackle on Natural Resources.

Two months later the leading bird science group, The American Ornithologists' Union, concluded that removing the poisonous metal from bullets and shotgun pellets is the only way to save the highly endangered California condor. What You Can Do

If you live in California, please ask your assembly member to oppose A.B. 2392, a bill that would weaken protections for the endangered California condor. .

Dove Hunting Outlawed in Michigan
 
Source - H.S.U.S.
Mourning doves are the traditional bird of peace and a beloved backyard songbird. They delight millions who engage in birdwatching or who lure the gentle birds to their backyard feeders.

But a minority view mourning doves as nothing more than live targets, sometimes referring to them as "cheap skeet." More doves are killed each year—more than 20 million—than any other animal in the country.

But there is simply no good reason to shoot a dove.

Dove hunting is unnecessary and serves no wildlife management purpose. Mourning doves—also known as the "farmer's friend" because they eat pest weed seeds—pose no threat to crops, homes or anything of value to people.

Dove hunting contributes to the discharge of enormous amounts of toxic lead shot in the environment. For every dove bagged, hunters discharge an average of eight shots, according to a long-term study conducted by the U.S. Geological Survey and the Fish and Wildlife Service. Cumulative lead deposits pose a significant risk to ground-feeding doves and other wildlife.



HSUS targets bear hunting

Source - H.S.U.S
Approximately 33,000 bears are killed by trophy hunters in the United States each year, solely to become a head on the wall or a hide on the floor—not counting the thousands more killed illegally by poachers.

Many states even continue to allow the unsporting practices of bear baiting and hounding.

Since trophy hunters tore a loophole in the Marine Mammal Protection Act in 1994, more than 800 sport-hunted trophies of imperiled polar bears have since been imported into the country for living room decor.

Bear Baiting: Donuts and Bullets

Bear baiters use piles of donuts, carcasses or other garbage to lure bears into their crosshairs. Then they sit back and wait for a bear to arrive and shoot her while she eats. Ten states still allow this practice.

Hound Hunting: Hounding them to death.

Hound hunters use packs of radio-collared dogs to harass bears and chase them into trees. Hunters follow the signal from the dogs' collars to where the pack has the bear waiting and shoot her down from at close range.

The Maryland Bear Hunt: Back and worse than ever.

After trophy hunters reduced Maryland’s black bear population to only 12 bears in the entire state, the animals were protected. In 2004, then-Governor Robert Ehrlich initiated a trophy hunt on the state's 500 bears, leading to the slaughter of more than 100 animals. As many as 70 more are scheduled to be killed in 2007. If you live in Maryland, please take action.

New Jersey's Bears: Protected once more.

New Jersey's bears were driven to the brink of extinction by trophy hunters in the 1970s. In 2003, then-Governor James McGreevey re-opened trophy hunting, resulting in the deaths of more than 600 bears. Since then,  Governor Jon Corzine and the department of natural resources have stood up for the bears and canceled the hunt. 

HSUS targets pheasant stocking programs
 Source - H.S.U.S.
State wildlife agencies should be stewards of the environment. But some agencies release non-native ring-necked pheasants for target practice. Native to China, these pheasants don't thrive everywhere in the United States. To meet hunter demand, wildlife agencies release hundreds of thousands of birds who have little chance of survival.

Because they are pen raised, stocked pheasants often lack the skills necessary to fend for themselves. In some states, hunters wait in parking lots for trucks bringing crates of these birds, or line up before released for the first shot. The pheasants who survive this initial gauntlet usually succumb to harsh weather, starvation or predators. Other species may be killed, too, to keep the pheasants alive longer for the hunters.

In the past, wildlife management saw animals as a resource to be cultivated, "culled" and then grown again. But state wildlife agencies report to all citizens—not just hunters—and the public agrees that a humane culture merges ethics with science. The Wildlife Abuse Campaign works with scientists, policy makers, environmentalists and advocates to question pheasant stocking's place in humane, ethical and scientific wildlife management.