Mark Wilson

Evansville Courier & PressView Comments

https://www.courierpress.com/story/news/local/2022/03/15/bald-eagles-no-longer-endangered-species-but-lead-poisoning-threat-indiana-kentucky/6976056001/

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EVANSVILLE, Ind.— As the population of the formerly endangered bald eagle has grown nationwide,a new threat to its survival is emerging.

Once threatened by agricultural pesticide use and hunting, bald eagles are now seeing an increase in deaths from lead poisoning.

“It’s one of the most ironic parts of the conservation movement,” said Laura Edmunds, clinical director at theIndiana Raptor Centerin Nashville. “The only reason it hasn’t had more attention until now is that there are more eagles now.”

The effects of lead toxicity might have stayed undetected if conservationists hadn’t been so successful at restoring eagles’ numbers, she said.

How do bald eagles get lead poisoning?

The source? Wildlife experts believe it’s lead ammunition used by hunters — bullet fragments and shotgun pellets left in wounded animals that then fall prey to or are scavenged by…