Trumpeter Swan Deaths by Lead Poisoning Hit 45 Percent This Winter

This winter has seen an alarming number of trumpeter swans dying from lead poisoning in the Pacific Northwest. The large birds are winter residents of water-rich areas like Washington’s Olympic Peninsula. So far this winter, the Northwest Raptor & Wildlife Center has taken in six cases of lead poisoning, all which proved fatal and “is likely only a fraction of the number of poisoning cases in the wild," according to the Center’s Matthew Randazzo.

The dangers of lead to wildlife, especially lead ammunition, are not new. Last fall, the Environmental Protection Agency denied a request from a number of wildlife advocates to ban lead ammunition. The EPA claimed ammunition regulation was not within their authority. In response, the organizations have filed a lawsuit against the EPA.

The suing organizations are Center for Biological Diversity, Public Employees for Environmental Responsibility and Project Gutpile. To support the lawsuit, Martin Matheny launched a petition aimed at the EPA to hold the agency accountable for its main goal: to protect the environment.

It certainly is a sorry state of affairs when a federal agency that recognizes lead as a toxic substance claims they do not have power to protect the environment from said toxic substance. Perhaps it’s not surprising, then, to learn that the EPA is also willfully ignoring a directive from the White House that requires federal agencies to set policies on issues related to scientific integrity. EPA has made it clear that they do only what they want and answer to no one, not even the President.

Statistics from this past fall showed that, of the 70 swans that had died along the Washington-Canada border, 32 were a result of lead poisoning. This is up from 2009, when only 8 of 52 deaths were from lead poisoning. And this is despite a national ban on lead ammo used for waterfowl hunting.

In another fatal blow, trumpeter swans are being shot illegally. In the last three weeks alone, five swans have been found shot to death. “These are not hunters. These are just jerks,” said Martha Jordan of the Trumpeter Swan Society. Swans are protected under the Migratory Bird Treaty Act and listed as a species of concern under the Endangered Species Act.

While many are claiming this is an anti-hunting agenda, let me remind you that Project Gutpile is a hunting group. Ammunition (and bait tackle) has been successfully made without the use of lead. This is a move that will change how ammo is made, not ban it outright.

Additionally, the majority of lead poisoning cases are not a result of hunters wasting their quarry. Instead, spent ammo that does not reach its intended target may be mistaken for food and ingested by wildlife. Or the lead seeps into the water supply and is absorbed.

Lead in the environment is an issue that affects us, too, not just wildlife. It contaminates not only our water supply but food sources as well. Instead of giving in to knee-jerk reactions about hunting or fishing rights, this is an opportunity for all sides to work together and protect our environment from toxic lead.

Photo Credit: Pamela Black