Saturday, February 14, 2009

Last June, shortly before a law banning the use of lead ammunition in California Condor country was about to go into effect, we urged the state’s hunters to get behind the new regulations, saying it was not too much to ask of them.

It seems they were listening.

The Fish and Game Commission reported last week that 99 percent of hunters roaming condor territory — stretching from the coast to the eastern Sierra and from Stanislaus County on the north to Los Angeles County on the south — are now using lead-free bullets in their guns.

“The nonlead hunting regulations to protect condors appear thus far to be noncontroversial and effective, as most California hunters seem to be doing their part to get toxic lead out of the food chain,” Jeff Miller of the Center for Biological Diversity said in a press release.

Authored by Assemblyman Pedro Nava, D-Santa Barbara, the Condor Preservation Act, which became law July 1, helps removes one of the biggest threats facing the California condor: lead poisoning, which paralyzes their digestive tracts, causing condors to slowly starve to death.

Taken a step further, the switch to lead-free ammunition has not only benefited the endangered condor, but every other thing that feeds on game, including bears, mountain lions, eagles and even people.

Since 1992, the deaths of at least 15 condors in California have been confirmed or linked to lead poisoning. And dozens more have survived — thanks to receiving life-saving treatment — after ingesting lead fragments from bullets found in the remains of animals felled by hunters.

The Star supported Mr. Nava’s efforts, along with expanded regulations also imposed by Fish and Game, as a way to protect the food chain, the majestic condor and the investment in a breeding program that has brought the condor back from the brink of extinction.

On these counts, the news is positive. There are now more than 330 condors among wild and captive populations, up from 22 in the mid-1980s. Last year was also the best condor-breeding year in California since 1992, with nine condor pairs laying nine eggs and most hatchlings surviving.

Hunters opposed to the banning of lead ammunition predicted widespread shortages of lead-free bullets, which are made from copper and other metals. That has not happened.

According to Fish and Game, there are now at least 17 manufacturers producing more than 150 types and calibers of bullets suitable for use in condor country.

In the case of the giant California condor, it’s clear that man’s activities, including hunting with lead bullets, nearly wiped this magnificent bird from the face of the Earth. As such, we all have a moral obligation to try and save the species for future generations.

So far, we are pleased to see the state’s hunters have answered that call.