SWANS DYING OF LEAD POISONING IN WASHINGTON STATE AND BRITISH COLUMBIA, CANADA
Feb 8, 2001
In late December 2000 and continuing into February 2001 trumpeter swans are dying from lead poisoning in north Whatcom County, Washington and over the border into the Sumas Valley in British Columbia. As of February 4 more than 176 trumpeters have been picked up dead or dying on the ponds they use for night roosts. Most of the birds, at least 150 are from the U.S. side.
This is the second year in a row for this die-off and in the same area. Last year the total known dead was 87, this year there are more than twice this number and the winter season still has several weeks to go. A similar die-off also occurred in 1992 in this same area. It is unclear why eight years passed before these recent die-offs have occurred again.
Our Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and the Canadian Wildlife Service are working on finding where the swans are picking up the lead shot.
The swans pick up the lead shot in areas where they are feeding. They ingest the pellets, thinking they are grit (small stones). Lead shot pellets are the same general size of the grit they prefer. Grit is needed to aid in the grinding of food in their gizzards.
Depending on what a swan eats for food, it takes only 3 to 4 pellets to cause lead poisoning. Some of the birds found dead have more than 30 pellets in their gizzards. Lead poisoning results when the food is ground against the grit and lead shot in the gizzard during digestion. Lead is a soft metal and gets ground down easily and then is taken into the blood stream causing the symptoms of lead poisoning. Sometimes this process is slow and the birds can survive. Other times, if they eat corn for example, the grain is hard and the lead is ground down more quickly, thus resulting in a high release of lead into the system and the swans die.
Swans spend their winter days feeding in agricultural fields or adjacent wetlands then go to night roosts, typically a lake or slough. Swans fly into the night roosts, if they feel ill they do not leave the roost the next day, the bird gradually gets weaker and eventually die at the roost site.
LEAD SHOT & BULLETS - GET THE FACTS
Lead Ammunition is toxic to wildlife and the environment. The ammunition includes lead shot (including trap or skeet shot) and bullets. Waterfowl and other birds accidentally ingest lead shot when feeding and often die from lead poisoning. Many eagles and other predatory or scavenging birds also suffer lead poisoning by consuming lead shot and bullets embedded in tissues of game animals killed or wounded with lead ammunition. Secondary lead poisoning in eagles and other predators occurs when they eat birds that died from lead poisoning. The use of lead ammunition is one of the most significant sources of lead deposition into the environment as other sources of lead from industry, paints and gasoline continue to decrease. As an example, a national ban in Canada will reduce the amount of lead released into the environment by more than 800 tons annually and in the US the amount of reduction would be much more. Lead deposition on our lands can leach into the soil and water. Also, lead deposited directly into waterways from hunting may further contaminate soils downstream as erosion occurs from water flows.
The replacement of toxic lead shot by non-toxic alternatives will help to conserve the health of our bird populations and their habitats for everyone to enjoy.
NON-TOXIC AMMUNITION - WHAT IS IT?
The ammunition made from other metals or combination of metals has been shown to have minimal to no toxicity on wildlife. There is on-going research to find better ammunition that will work as well as lead and be benign to the environment and wildlife. Several non-toxic alternatives have been developed and approved for use, including
- Bismuth shot
- Tungsten-matrix shot
- Steel shot
- Tungsten-iron shot
- Tin shot
- Tungsten-polymer shot
- Tungsten-matrix shot
At this time, these alternatives are currently more expensive than lead, although the cost is coming down and the difference in price for some shot is nominal. The cost to work with lead poisoned wildlife and the deaths of non-target species including swans, raptors and others is substantial. It is time for the public to stop subsidizing hunting at the cost of our environmental health and wildlife resources.
CURRENT REGULATIONS
Non-toxic shot has been required for all waterfowl hunting in the United States since 1991 and in Canada since 1999.
In Washington State: Non-toxic shot required for all waterfowl hunting For upland birds lead is still used in all areas except Skagit County and 10 Dept. of Fish and Wildlife owned lands where pheasants are released. This is only a small portion of the pheasant release sites.
WHAT YOU CAN DO
The Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife is studying the ban of lead for all bird hunting.
The Washington Swan Coalition is working to educate the public about the lead ammunition issue and to gain support to encourage our WDFW to ban lead for ALL bird hunting in Washington.
For more information on lead shot and lead poisoning visit the Canadian Wildlife Services website.
Also visit the WDFW website for information on the their continued work to ban lead shot for upland bird hunting.