CA Fish and Game Commission meets on condors and lead

On 8/27, the CA Fish and Game commission met in Sacramento to discuss, amongst other things, a proposed ban on lead ammunition in "Condor Country". The proposed regulation would require the use of all-copper bullets in the affected areas. The Commission is considering the ban under the theory that the birds are ingesting lead from gut piles left by hunters and shot animals lost by hunters. Even if one were to accept these ideas as a way for lead to enter the birds' digestive systems, the condor recovery projects in the State are failing to recognize far greater threats to the birds than the odd bullet fragment.

In this clip, Anthony Canales, the President of this Members' Council, addresses one of these threats to the California Condor: Rubbish Ingestion.



OK... For the non-gun nuts in the audience, why am I questioning the notion that condors could ingest lead from gut piles and lost animals? First off, most hunters use copper- jacketed bullets; not solid lead. Secondly, for a bullet to get into a gut pile, the animal must have been shot in the gut. That, of course, could happen. However, if that happens, the bullet won't strike bone on the way in and thus won't fragment exposing the lead inside. Mr. Condor, in that case, would end up dining on the copper jacket rather than the lead.

For more on the issue, read Tony's latest post on the NRAMembersCouncils.com website.

We have some more clips from the 8/27 CFG meeting. Those will be uploaded soon.