Jurassic park is wrong about Condors Lead is the trouble.

John Hammond:
Condors! Condors are on the verge of extinction. If I was to create a flock of condors on this island, you wouldn't have anything to say!

Dr. Ian Malcolm:
No hold on, this is not some species that was obliterated by deforestation, or the building of a damn. Dinosaurs, uh, *had* their shot, and nature *selected* them for extinction!

California Condor photo credit:
U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service/John McCamman

This quote is a prominent part of the movie arguing the overall theme of Jurassic park. but like most "science" in the movie it is wrong. 

When I was born in 1984, six California condors died in the wild, leaving just nine wild and 21 captive condors in the world.  Leading to a last ditch effort to capture the last remaining wild condors and rely on an unproven ability to breed condors in captivity to ensure the species’ survival.Yet, 30 years later, progress has been slow for the California condor recovery program.

One of the biggest hurdles is lead poisoning, often from the consumption of carrion, Mostly deer, containing lead fragments from spent shot or ammunition, is the most common cause of death for these scavenging birds.  More than 40 percent of condor deaths in the wild, where cause of death could be determined through necropsy, were the result of lead poisoning. Newborns have a 50% chance death from lead poisoning.  The sad this is this applies to all An estimated 10 million to 20 million birds, mostly scavengers like vultures bald eagles, etc die each year from lead poisoning. 

Two men found the eagle shivering in a river in Waverly, Iowa. They brought the eagle to Avenue of the Saints Animal Hospital, where the veterinarians began to treat him for lead poisoning after tests showed lethal amounts in his system,according to KWWL (Waverly). It is believed the lead came from bullet fragments or fish tackle. 

 More than 230 condors now occur in the wild and roughly 190 are in captive breeding programs or housed in zoos.  Approximately 40 of the condors in the wild are either progeny of wild pairs, or were substituted as eggs into wild nests and fully fledged in the wild.  This year, two of these wild-fledged condors produced a chick, creating a second generation of "truly wild" condor.

Efforts to monitor the locations and activities of the animals allow biologists to detect early warning signs of lead poisoning.  Wild condors are captured once or twice annually to be fitted with tracking devices and identifying tags, tested for blood lead and placed in captivity for chelation treatment if lead exposure is higher than prescribed levels.  Clean food is provided to these animals—a practice that began with the release program in 1992—but as condors mature and become more experienced in the wild, their reliance on proffered food declines and natural foraging increases.

Hunters may choose to purchase lead bullets, because they're cheaper and, in some cases, safer than other materials. But, occasionally, these bullets end up killing more than just the targeted animal.

California has addressed this issue by outlawing lead ammunition for hunting effective June 2019. In Arizona and Utah, state wildlife agencies have developed aggressive voluntary programs providing free or subsidized non-lead ammunition, shooting events and educational programs.  Although efforts to reduce the use of lead ammunition for hunting wildlife within the condors’ range have incurred some public disfavor, they are essential to ensure the species' survival.

Call (209) 742-5579 or visit: YosemiteaAudubon.org for additional information about the program, and call (209) 742-5181 about the field trip.

Article contributed by Yosemite Area Audubon Society

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Substantial portions of this article were excerpted from John McCamman’s recent article in the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service’s Endangered Species Bulletin.