Real-Life Stories about the Effects
of Lead on Wildlife
02-08-2012 We got news back on our
last eagle that came in a few weeks
ago. It was lead poisoned!
This eagle came in from the
Evansdale area. It was found on the
Cedar River, having difficulty
standing. Local DNR officer, Chris
Jones, responded to this call and
brought the eagle here for care.
He was a well fleshed 9.4 pound
adult, likely male bald eagle with
absolutely not one injury on him,
not a feather out of place. I was
on my way home at the time and my
husband accepted this eagle into our
care. It was dead before I got home
one hour later.
I took the eagle into Dr. Lori
Cherney for her to check it over and
check it for lead poisoning.
She xrayed it and found no evidence
of lead in the body. That does not
mean this eagle did not at some
point ingest lead it created havoc
in the body and then it was cast it
out as a pellet or expelled it
through it's feces.
She opened the eagle and took out
the liver and kidney and we sent it
to Ames for lead toxicology.
It came back far beyond the lethal
level for both organs.
Anything over 6 parts per million is
considered lethal. Our eagle came
back with these values.
Kidney reading was 15.8 parts per
million and liver was 26.2 parts per
million! This eagle did not stand a
chance with those high of levels.
What can we do to change this?
Write and call your legislators and
inform them that lead is killing
eagles and ask that lead shot not be
used for hunting. Tell them it is
killing our national symbol, the
Bald Eagle. Do some reading on
the internet from Kay Neumann, SOAR,
in IA, who has been tracking eagles
and lead poisoning since 2004.
http://www.soarraptors.org/Documents/119Neumann.pdf
And if you want to know more just
google lead poisoning in eagles and
learn more. Google the California
Condors and the lead ban there.
On another note tonight, I am
waiting to hear back from Kay
Neumann, who runs SOAR(Save Our
Avian Resources) in Iowa. We
received a call on a downed bald
eagle in Franklin County today as
did Kay. Kay accepted the eagle
into her care.
It's an all too familiar story that
sends a chill up my spine every time
I hear it.
No signs of injury, unable to stand
and seizing.
This eagle is also banded so it will
be interesting to see what it's
history is. I will keep you
informed of her news on this eagle
but it does not sound promising.
The last three eagles turned into
Black Hawk Wildlife have all been
tested for lead. These were healthy
bald eagles, their weights were good
and there were no injuries on these
birds.
Once you have seen a majestic mature
bald eagle struggle to stand and
then become unable to stand, have
trouble breathing, seize and die,
those images will never leave your
mind. They all died of acute lead
poisoning. :(|
Update
on Bald Eagle from Franklin County, 02-09-2012
I received a text message from Kay.
Sadly, the banded bald eagle picked
up in Franklin County today is lead
poisoned. The level level on her
human grade lead machine goes off
that scale at 65 micrograms.
Anything above 20 micrograms is
toxic for an eagle so Kay is
starting chelation therapy on this
eagle tonight. The eagle is not
standing. It is not a good thing
when a bird of prey gives up his
standing position. That means they
feel very puny!
I will keep you informed of this
bald eagle's status as I know it.
Banded Eagle update from Franklin
County, Iowa, 02-09-2012
I received an report from Kay
Nuemann from SOAR(Save Our Avian
Resources) this am. The eagle's
future is very uncertain at this
point. He is standing some this am
but it is difficult to stand and is
open mouth breathing. The band on
his leg is being called in so we
will gain access to his history
soon.
Lead impairs red blood cell
formation and impairs the ability to
get adequate oxygen so this eagle is
open mouth breathing.... this is not
good. Birds can not maintain life
for very long breathing in this
manner.
I will keep you updated. Lead
poisoning is so very sad. And
preventable... let's get the lead
out folks of your hunting and
fishing supplies! Thank you!
And feel free to pass this on to
your legislators. These videos
need to be seen by those who are
making decisions on the use of lead
in hunting in Iowa. Let's protect
our majestic bald eagle!
Black Hawk
Wildlife Rehab Project
bhwildliferehab.com
319 277 6511 is the hotline.
If you want to
send a tax deductible donation to
help care for the eagles you can
send to BHWRP, 419 Maple St, Wasburn
IA. 50702
Eagle Update, 02-09-2012
We have an update
on the eagle's band.
He is a 21 yr old male, banded in
Minnesota, as a nestling. He weighs
nine pounds, so we know it is a
male. Males weigh less.
Kay sent this picture along tonight
to show you what he looks like now.
This is a typical stance we see the
eagles in when they are poisoned,
they are so weak, it's hard for them
to hold their head up.
His future is very uncertain at this
point. But if we don't try, we
won't know if he will pull through.
Eagle Update – 02-13-2012
Good news is that he does not need
chelation therapy. His result was
.14 ppm and treatment based on the
protocol of the University of MN
Raptor Center begins at .2ppm. He
was exposed at .14 ppm so the goal
of his therapy is to keep him
hydrated and fed and he should be
able to pass it on his own. They do
get nauseated and can vomit and last
night he did vomit up some of his
food but today so far has been a
good day with all food kept down.
Eagles will eat about 10 percent of
their body weight so once his
appetite comes back that will mean
about 10 oz of meat per day. If
someone has deer roast that is not
spiced or smaller whole fish or beef
heart, we could use some donations
in several days once he goes through
what I have on hand. You can call
the hotline at
319-277-6511 if you would like
to make a donation. Thank you!
In visiting with Kay Neumann, from
SOAR, in Dedham, Iowa, she says at
.14 ppm that is the equivalent of
driving "buzzed" in the human
world. She says she and other
rehab centers have seen eagles that
come in with low levels of exposure
and with injuries as a result.
We are continuing to feed him with a
forceps as he is not eating on his
own yet and tubing him fluids to
hydrate him. He is on an antibiotic
for the badly bruised wing. Dr.
Lori Cherney will be rechecking him
on Friday of this week.
This photo was courtesy of my niece,
Andrea Eilders, who was taking a few
photographs of him eating last
night. She actually caught him mid
gulp of a piece of chicken. :)
This is excellent video and article
that speaks to lead poisoning. The
University of Minnesota Raptor
Center is a leader in the field of
raptor research and lead poisoning
and the treatment.
