Over the past six years, Craighead Beringia South has been one of the pivotal organizations to identify that the use of lead rifle ammunition in big game hunting is directly poisoning many wildlife species across the country. Our monitoring has shown that fragments of lead bullets are ingested by ravens and eagles, leading to blood lead levels which can inhibit survival. The goal of this project is to eliminate the lead fragments left behind in offal by ending the use of lead ammunition. In 2009, Craighead Beringia South launched a pilot project designed to test the feasibility of an action-oriented program designed to educate hunters and jump-start a grassroots movement that will ultimately shape public policy about lead ammunition use.
In 2010 we are proposing to significantly expand the scope of the project. By increasing our educational outreach and previously successful non-lead ammunition give-away program, we will create a substantial movement towards a receptive switch away from traditional toxic lead ammunition by hunters. We will continue to track the eagles with the use of satellite transmitters to show that those being exposed to lead in Jackson Hole disperse throughout the continent, making this issue of national concern. The clear link between lead ammunition and lead poisoning in wildlife has been established, the resolution is understood but implementing policy change and gaining majority support remain the challenge.
Project Description and Background:
A ballistic gel shot of a lead bullet shows multiple fragments.
Craighead Beringia South studies, based from our Kelly, Wyoming, wildlife research institute, have linked spent lead rifle ammunition to unnaturally high lead exposure in bald eagles, grizzly bears, golden eagles, and ravens in the “pristine” Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem. Based on our research, we know that both eagles and ravens feeding on gutpiles in the Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem during the hunting season have annual home ranges that extend all the way from southern California to Canada, creating a need for a nation-wide, tangible solution. Several avenues of action exist to accomplish this.
Copper and metal-gilding ammunition are commonly available, viable alternatives present throughout the world. Mandating non-lead ammunition nationwide would significantly curtail lead ammunition use, but such action would also be a cause of animosity between hunters, conservation groups, and government agencies. The other option is a voluntary effort encouraged by substantial education about health effects to both wildlife and humans with the intent of growing hunter support over a period of time to mitigate the use of lead ammunition. Craighead Beringia South proposes a combination of the two approaches to create an action-oriented solution that will result in relatively quick change with little opposition.
A ballistic gel shot of a copper bullet shows no fragments.
An easy solution exists to lead ammunition that exhibits better performance than its poisoning counterpart. While legislation against the use of lead-based ammunition may appear to be the best solution, the compliance with laws that hunters are opposed to will not be sufficient to curtail the impacts of this ecological poison. We are implementing a voluntary lead-reduction program based in hunter education before legislation is introduced to gather further support from the participating community and ensure a long-term, successful solution. The collection of more data on the positive effects to wildlife of switching to alternative ammunition will bring additional awareness and support of the program as well as public acceptance moving towards legislative action.
To achieve our long-term goal of removing lead rifle ammunition as a source of lead toxicity throughout the nation, the implementation of regulation must happen at a local level first with sufficient support from the hunting community as well as the regulatory organizations. By building this cooperation in a large enough manor we can effectively remove the threat of lead poisoning of our wildlife, wildlands, and homes. Though the concept of providing ammunition to hunters to help wildlife seems paradoxical, our limited efforts in 2009 began to show the promise of this technique by reducing lead toxicity in scavenging birds by a fourth. Given these very promising results, we remain confident that increasing our education, outreach, and monitoring efforts will be a significant step towards the ultimate goal of eliminating lead rifle ammunition from large game hunting.
Tags: copper bullets, Craighead Beringia South, Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem, kelly wyoming, lead bullets, One28
