Great effort and expense has been made to bring the "Thunderbird", or California Condor
(Gymnogyps californianus) back from extinction in the wild. But condors released into the wild from captive breeding programs are dying from lead poisoning. Six condors tested in early May had toxic levels of lead in the bodies, and three died of lead poisoning. The others recovered from chelation treatment and were released. X-rays showed that the scavengers had numerous lead projectiles in their system, probably as a result of eating animals that had been shot. One bird had 18 shotgun pellets in it's digestive system. Even a small amount of lead can kill a condor. Chronic poisoning paralyses the digestive tract leading to starvation and death. The testing of the birds was prompted by a report of a hiker seeing a dead breeding male condor in the Grand Canyon. Thirty birds were tested by the Peregrine Fund condor recovery program in Arizona. Hunters have responded to Arizona's Fish & Wildlife officials request to use non-lead ammunition in condor country and to remove carcasses from the field, but the testing shows compliance is not 100%.
