Lead Exposure Among a Reintroduced Population of California Condors in Northern Arizona and Southern Utah

Parish, Christopher N.

doi:10.4080/ilsa.2009.0217

Cited by 14 publications

(6 citation statements)

References 9 publications

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“…However, in 2005 the Arizona Game and Fish Department implemented a hunter‐education campaign and provided free, nonlead ammunition for hunters in condor habitats. With >80% participation by hunters, the severity of lead exposure during 2007 was low and there were no lead‐related condor deaths 87 . However, there were three lead‐related condor deaths after the 2009 hunting season 30…”

Section: Causes Of Declinesmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Shooting vultures has long been documented in the United States, Europe, and North Africa, where the activity appears to be largely for sport 22,28,29,61 . Documented cases of intentional poisoning of vultures have been noted as being in retaliation for the suspected killing of newborn lambs, to disguise the locations of poachers’ activities, and to obtain vulture parts for traditional medicine 65,72,87,89,90 . The acquisition of vulture parts for traditional medicine has been documented in West and southern Africa 72,91–93 and is suspected in parts of East Africa (N. Baker, pers.…”

Section: Causes Of Declinesmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…With >80% participation by hunters, the severity of lead exposure during 2007 was low and there were no lead-related condor deaths. 87 However, there were three lead-related condor deaths after the 2009 hunting season. 30 In contrast to unintentional poisoning, deliberate persecution of vultures has occurred for centuries.…”

Section: Causes Of Declinesmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Dropping dead: causes and consequences of vulture population declines worldwide

Ogada

Keesing

Virani

2011

Annals of the New York Academy of Sciences

381

362

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Vultures are nature's most successful scavengers, and they provide an array of ecological, economic, and cultural services. As the only known obligate scavengers, vultures are uniquely adapted to a scavenging lifestyle. Vultures' unique adaptations include soaring flight, keen eyesight, and extremely low pH levels in their stomachs. Presently, 14 of 23 (61%) vulture species worldwide are threatened with extinction, and the most rapid declines have occurred in the vulture-rich regions of Asia and Africa. The reasons for the population declines are varied, but poisoning or human persecution, or both, feature in the list of nearly every declining species. Deliberate poisoning of carnivores is likely the most widespread cause of vulture poisoning. In Asia, Gyps vultures have declined by >95% due to poisoning by the veterinary drug diclofenac, which was banned by regional governments in 2006. Human persecution of vultures has occurred for centuries, and shooting and deliberate poisoning are the most widely practiced activities. Ecological consequences of vulture declines include changes in community composition of scavengers at carcasses and an increased potential for disease transmission between mammalian scavengers at carcasses. There have been cultural and economic costs of vulture declines as well, particularly in Asia. In the wake of catastrophic vulture declines in Asia, regional governments, the international scientific and donor communities, and the media have given the crisis substantial attention. Even though the Asian vulture crisis focused attention on the plight of vultures worldwide, the situation for African vultures has received relatively little attention especially given the similar levels of population decline. While the Asian crisis has been largely linked to poisoning by diclofenac, vulture population declines in Africa have numerous causes, which have made conserving existing populations more difficult. And in Africa there has been little government support to conserve vultures despite mounting evidence of the major threats. In other regions with successful vulture conservation programs, a common theme is a huge investment of financial resources and highly skilled personnel, as well as political will and community support.

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Section: Causes Of Declinesmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Causes Of Declinesmentioning

confidence: 99%

See 1 more Smart Citation

Dropping dead: causes and consequences of vulture population declines worldwide

Ogada

Keesing

Virani

2011

Annals of the New York Academy of Sciences

381

362

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“…from the ingestion of lead ammunition residues (bullet fragments, intact bullets, and lead shot) in the remains of gun-killed animals 4,6,12,13 . In 2000, at least two individuals died from ingesting shotgun pellets from an unknown source, and thirteen others showed elevated blood lead levels in Arizona 14 .…”

mentioning

confidence: 99%

The endangered California Condor (Gymnogyps californianus) population is exposed to local haemosporidian parasites

Pacheco

Parish

Hauck

et al. 2020

Sci Rep

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The endangered California Condor (Gymnogyps californianus) is the largest New World Vulture in North America. Despite recovery program success in saving the species from extinction, condors remain compromised by lead poisoning and limited genetic diversity. The latter makes this species especially vulnerable to infectious diseases. Thus, taking advantage of the program of blood lead testing in Arizona, condor blood samples from 2008 to 2018 were screened for haemosporidian parasites using a nested polymerase chain reaction (PCR) protocol that targets the parasite mitochondrial cytochrome b gene. Plasmodium homopolare (Family Plasmodiidae, Order Haemosporida, Phylum Apicomplexa), was detected in condors captured in 2014 and 2017. This is the first report of a haemosporidian species infecting California Condors, and the first evidence of P. homopolare circulating in the Condor population from Arizona. Although no evidence of pathogenicity of P. homopolare in Condors was found, this study showed that the California Condors from Arizona are exposed to haemosporidian parasites that likely are spilling over from other local bird species. Thus, active surveillance should be an essential part of conservation efforts to mitigate the impact of infectious diseases, an increasingly recognized cause of global wildlife extinctions worldwide, particularly in avian populations considered vulnerable or endangered.

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“…Currently, wild California Condors face multiple threats to their recovery, including lead poisoning and trash ingestion (Mee and Snyder 2007;Finkelstein et al 2012;Rideout et al 2012). Although there is clear evidence that ingestion of spent lead ammunition from feeding on carcasses is the principal source of lead exposure to condors (Parish et al 2009;Finkelstein et al 2012) other sources, such as trash ingestion, may also be an exposure risk (Walters et al 2010).…”

mentioning

confidence: 99%

Lead Exposure Risk from Trash Ingestion by the Endangered California Condor (Gymnogyps californianus)

Finkelstein

Brandt

Sandhaus

et al. 2015

Journal of Wildlife Diseases

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ABSTRACT:Lead poisoning from ingestion of spent lead ammunition is one of the greatest threats to the recovery of California Condors (Gymnogyps californianus) in the wild. Trash ingestion by condors is well documented, yet the extent that trash presents a lead exposure risk is unknown. We evaluated 1,413 trash items collected from condor nest areas and nestlings in the Transverse Range of Ventura County, California, US, from 2002 to 2008, for their potential as a lead exposure risk to condors. We visually identified 71 items suspected to contain sufficient lead to be of toxicologic concern. These items were leached with weak acid and analyzed for lead. Twentyseven of the 71 leached items (,2% of the 1,413 items) were "lead containing" based on criteria of a leachate lead concentration .1 mg/ mL, with the majority of these items (22; 81% of the 27 lead items) being ammunition related (e.g., spent bullet casings and jacketed bullets). Only three of the 1,413 items collected were lead containing but were clearly not ammunition related; the other two lead-containing items were unidentified. Our results suggest that trash ingestion of nonammunition items does not pose a significant lead exposure risk to the California Condor population in California.

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Lead Exposure Among a Reintroduced Population of California Condors in Northern Arizona and Southern Utah

Cited by 14 publications

References 9 publications

Dropping dead: causes and consequences of vulture population declines worldwide

Dropping dead: causes and consequences of vulture population declines worldwide

The endangered California Condor (Gymnogyps californianus) population is exposed to local haemosporidian parasites

Lead Exposure Risk from Trash Ingestion by the Endangered California Condor (Gymnogyps californianus)

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