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from Ventana Wildlife Society.
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For Immediate Release
December 7, 2007
Fish and Game Commission Adopts New Regulations Requiring Nonlead Ammunition
The Fish and Game Commission voted 3-1 today to adopt new hunting
regulations for big game, nongame birds, and nongame mammals throughout
condor range in California requiring nonlead ammunition. The new
regulations are nearly the same as the recently passed bill, AB 821,
except for two significant differences which protect condors further.
First, the new regulations state that it is unlawful to possess lead
ammunition in condor range while taking (shooting) or attempting to take
game covered by the new regulations. This offers more protection than
what the new law, AB 821, gives because the latter only states that it is
unlawful to use lead ammunition while taking game. The enforcement of the
new regulations should be more realistic given that it rests with
possession and not just in the act of taking game.
Second, and this one was truly unexpected, the Commission did not exempt
.22 caliber, or smaller, projectiles from the new regulations. The new
Fish and Game Code 3004.5 that was enacted due to the passage of AB 821
exempts .22 caliber ammunition because nonlead varieties do not currently
exist on the market. The Commission felt that by requiring nonlead
ammunition for ALL ammunition, including .22 caliber, that the market will
adjust and that this was the most appropriate course of action to protect
condors.
What a pleasant surprise! We applaud the Fish and Game Commission's
decision and believe that they are correct. We also recognize that
without Pedra Nava's leadership (author of AB 821) that his efforts likely
helped to persuade the Commissioners to adopt these new regulations.
"It is indeed a precedent for any state to pass law or hunting regulation
in the nation prohibiting centerfire, rifle ammunition made of lead. What
is truly remarkable is that California also prohibits .22 caliber in
certain areas also." remarked Kelly Sorenson, Executive Director of
Ventana Wildlife Society.
Lead poisoning accounts for the greatest threat to free-flying condors.
Many condor experts testify that without these changes there is no hope
for condors to survive on their own. The new law and regulations together
not only should protect condors but other species of scavenging birds as
well. We are moved by these recent changes and look to a brighter future.
Ventana Wildlife Society
Press Release
September 14, 2007
Why the Governor should sign AB 821 into law
Hunters are conservationists and have a proud heritage. The few animals that do get away after being shot and lost in the field, are left behind for condors which would benefit them except that these carcasses contain poisonous lead ammunition fragments. I say let hunters continue to maintain their conservation tradition, but if they can't switch to non-lead ammunition on their own the Governor should lead them to do so. No one is trying to take away hunting, only the NRA and the gun lobby makes this ridiculous claim.
In California, 12 condors have died from lead poisoning, making it the most significant source of condor mortality. As a member of the California Condor Recovery Team, I help to test wild-flying condors for lead poisoning. In the fall immediately following deer hunting season, blood lead levels in condors rise significantly higher than any other time of year. We have recovered lead fragments, pellets, and whole projectiles from the digestive systems of dead condors.
In 2005, I trapped condor 208, a female whose blood test showed a lead level of 1.70 parts per million – 17 times higher than the recommended not-to-exceed level in humans. After rehabilitation at the Los Angeles Zoo, this condor was released and went on to hatch the first chick in the Ventana Wilderness in over 100 years. Our intervention in this and many other cases is all that is keeping condors in the wild. But this kind of intensive management would not be necessary if we could get the lead out of the condor’s habitat.
Lead ammunition has a tendency to fragment into hundreds of pieces upon impact and it should also be of concern for hunters that provide game meat to their families. Lead is toxic; we've banned it from our gasoline and our paint. It doesn't make sense to pump it into the environment in the form of bullets.
There is no hope for condors until non-lead ammunition becomes more widely used throughout their range. The governor now has a unique opportunity to make that happen, by signing A.B. 821 into law. Signing this bill, which would require the use of non-toxic, non-lead ammunition throughout the condor’s range, would show that Governor Schwarzenegger is truly an environmental leader, and not beholden to the gun lobby.
The hunting community has a long-standing tradition of conservation, and should be embracing the use of widely available non-lead ammunition. Barnes Bullets, the leading manufacturer of non-lead ammunition, produces 137 different projectiles for 74 cartridges. The National Rifle Association awarded Barnes Bullets their “Golden Bullseye Award” for best new product of the year for their most recent non-lead variety, the MRX (Maximum Range).
Non-lead ammunition is gaining widespread support in the hunting community; two military and national guard bases, Fort Hunter Liggett and Camp Roberts, both popular hunting areas, have already phased out the use of lead bullets in hunting big-game, specifically because of the danger lead poses to condors and the environment. The largest private hunting preserve in the state, the Tejon Ranch, has also banned lead in big-game hunting.
The rights of hunters are not affected by replacing toxic lead ammunition with better choices. Regardless of whether the governor signs A.B. 821 into law, hunters will still hunt. But if the use of lead ammunition is continued in condor range, we will lose one of the most magnificent species of birds in the world. Voluntary efforts have been in effect for 10 years and they do not work. By signing this bill into law, the Governor is helping hunters to lead in the solution while also protecting the condor.
Kelly Sorenson is the executive director of the Ventana Wildlife Society and a member of the California Condor Recovery Team.
Ventana Wildlife Society
Press Release
May 16, 2007
The first wild-hatched California condor in Big Sur’s Ventana Wilderness in 100 years receives life-saving West Nile Virus Vaccine:
Enter a contest to name the baby condor
On May 11, 2007, Biologists were dropped off by helicopter at the remote nesting location of a condor pair in Big Sur, CA. Biologists, Joe Burnett and Joseph Brandt, then rappelled 100 feet down a cliff face to the nest cave to get the first look at the month old condor chick (photos and video available upon request). This is the first chick wild-hatched in the Big Sur, Ventana Wilderness, in over 100 years. This was there first look at the chick since hatching from the egg on April 8, 2007 (Easter Sunday). Once inside the cave, biologists conducted a brief health check on the chick and administered a West Nile Virus Vaccine. At least one condor that was not vaccinated in time died from West Nile Virus, so this was a very important life-saving step in preserving the health of the wild chick.
A small blood sample was taken from the chick and will be tested for lead toxicity. The condor parents could inadvertently poison the young chick with lead during a routine feeding. Lead poisoning is the leading cause of mortality in wild condors. Condors ingest lead by feeding on deer, pig and other carcasses containing spent lead ammunition. A small fragment of a lead bullet can kill a condor. Assembly member Pedro Nava D-Santa Barbara, introduced AB 821which seeks to require hunters to use widely available nonlead ammunition in the condor range in California The bill just recently passed the Assembly and will now be heard in the Senate. The chick, which is now 38 days old, will leave the cave and take its first flight at approximately 5-6 months in age. The chick will stay with its parents until a year and half in age.
Senior Wildlife Biologist, Joe Burnett, commented on the chick:
"This was my first good look at the chick (we can’t actually see into the cave from the ground) and I was very impressed by the chick’s size (about the size of a chicken) and overall great health…Mom and dad are definitely keeping this chick well fed.”
“To me, my newborn son represents hope for my future and I imagine this chick also represents hope for this pair of condors and indeed anyone in the world who cares about wildlife conservation.”
“This chick is not out of the clear and still has some big hurdles to overcome.”
Assembly member Pedro Nava is sponsoring a new website, www.savethecondor.com to educate the public on the problem with lead and condors and creates opportunities to support the bill and help support the condor chicks in the wild. On this website there is also a “name the baby condor contest” where the public can enter a name of their choice to name this chick. The winner will get to see condors in the wild. For video and photos of the chicks and to receive email updates on the chick’s progress you can go to www.ventanaws.org
“It is truly an honor that Assembly member Pedro Nava is so supportive of condors in the wild and I can’t thank him enough for everything that he is doing,” said Kelly Sorenson.
In 1987 the last free-flying California condor was captured from the wild and an intensive recovery effort was initiated to save this species from extinction. Ventana Wildlife Society's Species Recovery Program started releasing condors in Big Sur in 1997 and in conjunction with the National Park Service at Pinnacles National Monument in 2003. Today there are 285 condors living, with 148 in captivity and 137 in the wild. Ventana Wildlife Society, the only non-profit releasing condors in California, works in collaboration with US Fish and Wildlife Service, California State Fish and Game, National Parks Service, Santa Barbara Zoo and the USDA Forest Service as well as the captive breeding institutions of San Diego Wild Animal Park, Los Angeles Zoo, Oregon Zoo, and the Peregrine Fund.
***
Ventana Wildlife Society Contacts:
Kelly Sorenson, Executive Director
Joe Burnett, Senior Wildlife Biologist
Ventana Wildlife Society
19045 Portola Drive Suite F-1
Salinas, CA 93908
(831) 455-9514
Download a PDF of the May 16, 2007 press release.