The issue gained new urgency last week when health officials in North Dakota pulled hunter-donated venison from food pantries after the discovery of lead fragments in about 60 percent of the meat tested. As a result, state officials in Minnesota and Iowa took similar precautions. The meat had been donated by hunters to help feed the needy.

“We were sufficiently concerned about lead exposure from ammunition fragments in game meat to organize this conference,” said Rick Watson, vice president of The Peregrine Fund, which leads the condor recovery program in Arizona. “Condors are sickened and some die from this source of lead exposure. It seemed plausible they may be a warning of human exposure as well.”

Condors are bred and hatched at the organization’s World Center for Birds of Prey in Boise and released to the wild near the Grand Canyon. The huge birds are scavengers that can ingest the tiny fragments of lead bullets after feeding on carcasses and gut piles of deer killed by hunters.

In the fall 2007 hunting season, 80 percent of hunters helped reduce lead exposure in condors by voluntarily using copper bullets or not leaving gut piles in the field, according to the Arizona Game and Fish Department. That’s up from a 60 percent compliance rate in 2006. No condors died in 2007; four condors died of lead poisoning in 2006.

“A viable solution exists in the form of bullets made from solid copper,” Watson said. “Copper bullets do not fragment like lead bullets do.”

No amount of lead is considered safe in humans. Contamination is especially serious in pregnant woman and children because even tiny amounts can cause brain development and behavioral problems in children. Amounts formerly considered safe in adults recently have been found to increase rates of death from heart attack and stroke.

The Peregrine Fund currently is studying the amount of lead in venison from deer shot with high-velocity lead bullets, which fragment into hundreds of tiny pieces upon impact. Published research has shown that these fragments are deposited in the animal several inches away from the bullet’s entry point. Preliminary results of the current study will be released at the conference in May. The final report will be published in a peer-reviewed journal.

The tests on venison that led to last week’s action in North Dakota were conducted by Dr. William Cornatzer, an avid hunter and a member of The Peregrine Fund board. After hearing of the lead problem with condors, Cornatzer decided to see for himself how much lead may be contained in game meat. With the help of health officials, Cornatzer collected about 100 1-pound packages of ground venison from food pantries in December and ran CT scans on the meat.

“This isn’t just a food pantry problem. This is a nationwide problem,” Cornatzer told the Associated Press.

The North Dakota Health Department confirmed the presence of lead in its own tests. Cornatzer plans to present his findings at the conference in Boise in May. For more information about the conference, please visit http://www.peregrinefund.org/Lead_conference/default.htm

CONTACT: Susan Whaley, public relations coordinator

(208) 362-8274 direct

(208) 860-2641 cell

(208) 362-3716 main

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Meymey hatched at the Los Angeles Zoo in 1996, but has lived at the Wild Animal Park since he was 7 months old. His parents are Sequoia (male) and UN-1 (female). Sequoia was hatched in the wild in 1984 in a nest in a Sequoia tree and then taken to the Los Angeles Zoo as a nestling. UN-1 was the first condor to lay a fertile egg in captivity in 1988 and at the Wild Animal Park.

Meymey was not released to the wild because, when he hatched, his family’s genetic line was considered underrepresented. With his rare genes, he was more important in the zoo breeding program than as a release candidate. Although he is now 12 years old, he has not yet been in a breeding pair. He has, however, been an excellent behavioral mentor to the chicks that have been sent to the wild to be released. He helps socialize the fledglings before they are sent to release sites by showing them how to interact and compete at food sites. A good bond between the members of the release cohort usually leads to a better chance of survival in the wild, and that all begins with their experience with the mentor. In the future, Meymey will be paired with a female to raise chicks of his own.

His name is a Chumash word that means, “to be soft.” If you visit the condor exhibit in Condor Ridge, Meymey is the condor wearing wing tag RED 38 on his right wing. His studbook number is 138.

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As complicated as flying the birds to the site is, the ground route proved even more troublesome. Even with the best advanced preparation for this trip we ended up delayed at the border for several hours more than expected, which convinced me that in the future we’ll be flying the birds to Mexico whenever possible. Luckily the cool temperature day made the trip tolerable for the birds and by that evening the birds were jockeying for position high up on release site aviary perches. They will remain in quarantine at the site for about a month and will be tested for specific diseases by SAGARPA (USDA counterpart) before they can be re-released.

Once we have permission from Mexico, we will be able to dramatically reduce the risk of food contamination by testing all carcasses and animal parts given to the birds with our new digital, field x-ray machine.

Many groups and individuals helped make this condor recovery effort a success, starting with Juan and Catalina in the field trapping, testing and helping to move the birds to San Diego, followed by the efforts of the veterinarians and medical staff at the Wild Animal Park’s Paul Harter Veterinary Medical Center, organized and coordinated by Dr. Jeff Zuba. Managing the isolation and medical treatment of such a large group (beginning with 11 birds) was a challenge for the keeper/vet staff. Valerie Stoddard now has the International Health Certificate process engrained in her mind. Thanks also to our new condor post doctoral fellow, James Sheppard and vet keepers for doing condor watch while they were in the recuperation pens.

Thanks to Elvia de la Cruz and Eduardo Peters in INE for the fast work with the Mexico CITES and the HRZ and Dave Rimlinger and Carol Dittmer for hanging in there with the US CITES export permits. Dr. Fernando Sanchez continues to do the amazing job of coordinating passage through the frenzy of stamps and signatures from four agencies at the Mexican border, which are required to move the birds from one country to the other. Sheila and Fatima from the Wild Animal Park’s condor department helped drive birds back to the Sierra. Without these folks and more, we would not have a condor release program in Baja.

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The latest eggs arrived Monday, March 10, laid by Tama and No. 147. The females and their mates, Mandan and No. 137, will sit on the eggs until keepers remove them to test for fertility.

“The eggs will be naturally incubated for 10 to 14 days,” said Shawn St. Michael, zoo assistant curator. “Then they will be pulled, candled, put into an incubator and replaced with dummy eggs.”

When the chicks start to hatch, at about 57 days, keepers switch the eggs back, so the chicks will hatch under their parents.

Condor keepers have determined that the first two eggs of the season are fertile. These eggs, laid by No. 174 and Salu, are now in an incubator. The hens are currently sitting on dummy eggs, which may be removed if keepers decide to encourage the condors to mate again (called “double clutching”).

Last year was a record-breaking one for condors in Oregon. Seven eggs were laid, including two by condor pairs who had never produced eggs before. Unfortunately, an abundance of eggs does not guarantee an abundance of chicks, and only three condor chicks hatched.

The zoo’s condor recovery efforts take place at the Jonsson Center for Wildlife Conservation, located in Clackamas County on Metro-owned open space. The remoteness of the facility minimizes the exposure of young condors to The Jonsson Center is currently home to 19 adult condors. The center has produced 15 eggs since it was established and 10 chicks have hatched.

In 2001, the Oregon Zoo became the third zoo in the nation to join the California Condor Recovery Program. California condor captive-breeding programs are also operated at San Diego Zoo’s Wild Animal Park, the Los Angeles Zoo and the Peregrine Fund’s World Center for Birds of Prey. The Oregon Zoo was the recipient of The Wildlife Society’s Conservation Award for “creating the nation’s fourth California condor breeding facility” in April 2005.

For more information about the Oregon Zoo’s California condors, visit
http://www.oregonzoo.org/Condors/index.htm.

Condors, the largest land birds in North America, have wingspans of up to 10 feet and weigh 18 to 30 pounds. They are highly intelligent and inquisitive, often engaging in play. Their range extended across much of North America during the Pleistocene Era, which ended about 10,000 years ago. By 1940, that range had been reduced to the coastal mountains of Southern California, and in 1967 condors were added to the first federal list of endangered species. In 1987, the 17 condors remaining in the wild were brought into captivity and a captive-breeding program was developed.

The zoo is a service of Metro and is dedicated to its mission to inspire the community to create a better future for wildlife. Committed to conservation, the zoo is currently working to save endangered California condors, Washington pygmy rabbits, Oregon silverspot butterflies, western pond turtles and Kincaid’s lupine. Other projects include studies on black rhinos, Asian elephants, polar bears and bats.

The zoo opens at 9 a.m. daily and is located five minutes from downtown Portland, just off Highway 26. The zoo is also accessible by MAX light rail line. Zoo visitors are encouraged to ride MAX or take TriMet bus No. 63 to the Oregon Zoo. Visitors who take the bus or MAX receive $1 off zoo admission. Call TriMet Customer Service, 503-238 RIDE (7433), or visit www.trimet.org for fare and route information.

General admission is $9.75 (12-64), seniors $8.25 (65+), children $6.75 (3-11), and infants 2 and under are free; 25 cents of the admission price helps fund regional conservation projects through the zoo’s Future for Wildlife program. A parking fee of $1 per car is also required. Additional information is available at www.oregonzoo.org or by calling 503-226-1561.
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Tatoosh, Ursa and Wiley are slated for a March 15 release at the Vermilion Cliffs National Monument in northern Arizona. Meriwether will be released at a later date.

Last year was a record year for Oregon Zoo condors: An unprecedented seven eggs were laid, including two by condor pairs who had never produced eggs before. Unfortunately, an abundance of eggs doesn’t guarantee an abundance of chicks; three eggs were infertile and a fourth proved to be unviable partway through incubation. The low fertility was likely due to the number of young females in the program. California condors don’t reach sexual maturity until about 5 to 7 years of age.

The condor recovery goal is to establish a captive population of 150 birds and two separate wild populations of condors, one in California and the other in Arizona. The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and the California Condor Recovery Program coordinate and implement the recovery program and provide oversight of all program partners.

The Oregon Zoo’s condor recovery efforts take place at the Jonsson Center for Wildlife Conservation, located in rural Clackamas County on
Metro-owned open space. The remoteness of the facility minimizes the exposure of young condors to people, increasing the chances for captive-hatched birds to survive and breed in the wild.

The Jonsson Center is currently home to 19 adult condors. The 7 eggs last season made a total of 15 since the center was established, and 10 chicks have hatched.

In 2001, the Oregon Zoo became the third zoo in the nation to join the California Condor Recovery Program. California condor captive-breeding programs are also operated at San Diego Zoo’s Wild Animal Park, the Los Angeles Zoo and the Peregrine Fund’s World Center for Birds of Prey. The Oregon Zoo was the recipient of the Wildlife Society’s Conservation Award for “creating the nation’s fourth California condor breeding facility” in April 2005.

Condors, the largest land birds in North America, have wingspans of up to 10 feet and weigh 18 to 30 pounds. They are highly intelligent and inquisitive, often engaging in play. Their range extended across much of North America during the Pleistocene Era, which ended about 10,000 years ago. By 1940, that range had been reduced to the coastal mountains of Southern California, and in 1967 condors were added to the first federal list of endangered species. In 1987, the 17 condors remaining in the wild were brought into captivity and a captive-breeding program was developed.

For more information about the Oregon Zoo’s California condors, visit www.oregonzoo.org/Condors/index.htm.

The zoo is a service of Metro and is dedicated to its mission to inspire the community to create a better future for wildlife. Committed to conservation, the zoo is currently working to save endangered California condors, Washington pygmy rabbits, Oregon silverspot butterflies, western pond turtles and Kincaid’s lupine. Other projects include studies on black rhinos, Asian elephants, polar bears and bats.

The zoo opens at 9 a.m. daily and is located five minutes from downtown Portland, just off Highway 26. The zoo is also accessible by MAX light rail line. Zoo visitors are encouraged to ride MAX or take TriMet bus No. 63 to the Oregon Zoo. Visitors who take the bus or MAX receive $1 off zoo admission. Call TriMet Customer Service, 503-238 RIDE (7433), or visit www.trimet.org for fare and route information.

General admission is $9.75 (12-64), seniors $8.25 (65+), children $6.75 (3-11), and infants 2 and under are free; 25 cents of the admission price helps fund regional conservation projects through the zoo’s Future for Wildlife program. A parking fee of $1 per car is also required. Additional information is available at www.oregonzoo.org or by
calling 503-226-1561.

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