Bald eagle admits update
After reading website posts and news articles about the number of bald eagles being admitted at wildlife rehabilitation centers and also reading the requests for hunters to go non-toxic in their hunting… we thought it was time to share what’s been going on at SOAR and bald eagle admits.
2017
Through 11/6/2017, SOAR has admitted or transferred to SOAR for continued care 38 bald eagles. We will continue to admit bald eagles in November and December. As I type, I know that one more will be transferred to SOAR for continued care. This number is just bald eagles admitted to one of the raptor rehabilitation centers in Iowa. SOAR continues to check lead levels of eagle admits as able and to x-ray to check for the presence of lead shrapnel in the digestive tract.
- 30 of the 38 eagles have had a lead test.
- 11 of the 30 lead-tested had elevated lead levels and all these eagles were admitted before April 2017.
- Of these 11 with elevated lead levels, only one survived to be released.
- 11 of the 30 lead-tested had elevated lead levels and all these eagles were admitted before April 2017.
This sign is in a public hunting area near Lansing, IA!
SOAR expects to see more bald eagles admitted this year with elevated lead levels despite all the awareness and education efforts to encourage hunters and anglers to go non-toxic.
SOAR (and others) will continue to educate and spread the word that lead poisons unintended animals and impacts your family’s health. There is no state exempt from lead poisoning issues in our wildlife.
The elevated lead levels in bald eagles and other raptors are just an indication of what is going on in the landscape. What SOAR and other wildlife rehabilitators see is just a tiny sample of what is actually happening.
Links to info across the country!
- KECI NBC Montana – Rescue centers remind hunters of non-lead options, posted 11/6/2017
- Wildlife Center of Virginia –Record-breaking Bald Eagle Admissions in 2017, posted 10/25/2017
- Clinton Herald – Forensics unravels mysterious eagle deaths: Mystery comes back to lead ammunition, posted 10/27/2017
- Fox 9 News from Mpls / St Paul – Lead ammo causing toxic levels in Minnesota bald eagles, posted 10/27/2017
- Valley News Dispatch – Pennsylvania hunters urged to protect bald eagles from lead poisoning, posted 10/26/2017