Is release of rehabilitated wildlife with embedded lead ammunition advisable? Plumbism in a Jaguar Panthera Onca (Mammalia: Carnivora: Felidae), survivor of gunshot wounds

Lead poisoning is a threat to wildlife, particularly after ingestion of lead ammunition derived from hunting activities. Little information, however, is available concerning plumbism in wild animals that survive the trauma associated with gunshot wounds. This study presents a possible example of lead intoxication by embedded pellets in a Jaguar Panthera onca nineteen months after being injured by a shotgun blast. In addition, the possible path of incorporation of lead into the trophic chain after the eventual release and death of an impacted animal, thereby expanding and prolonging the toxic effects of lead ammunition, is discussed. Direct intoxication by ammunition retained in the body of wild animals, as well as the indirect impacts on predators and scavengers that consume their flesh, should be sufficient reasons to reconsider the release of individuals with embedded lead ammunition into the wild.

Promoting the Transition to Non-Lead Hunting Ammunition in the European Union Through Regulation and Policy Options

Regulation (EU) 2021/57, banning the use of lead gunshot in wetland hunting, and adoption of the proposed European Union (EU) restriction on lead ammunition use by civilians in other types of hunting and target shooting, would complete the transition to non-lead ammunition use in the EU and ensure major compliance among hunters and shooters. The transition is possible since non-lead substitutes for all types of shotgun and rifle ammunition are produced already by leading European manufacturers. To ensure ammunition non-toxicity, EU standards are needed for lead substitutes to accompany both existing and potential future lead ammunition restrictions. Meat from wild game birds and mammals is a large and important commodity in the EU. Setting a maximum lead level in all marketed game meats under Regulation (EC) 1881/2006, aided by mandatory food labelling, would add extra health protection to human consumers. This regulatory step would help ensure that all wild game destined for retail markets were taken with non-lead ammunition, would complement existing and proposed European Commission restrictions on lead hunting ammunition and aid monitoring and enforcement. Increased public awareness of the risks posed by lead from ammunition to the health of humans, wildlife, and the environment, and especially their associated externalized costs to society, would promote and facilitate the passage of regulation to protect human and environmental health from toxic lead ammunition.

Lead Contamination Differences in the Muscle of Wild Turkeys Harvested with Lead and Copper-Plated Lead Shot

Despite the known deleterious effects lead exposure can have on humans, lead remains the most common type of ammunition used to harvest big game and upland game birds. We sampled wild turkey Meleagris gallopavo breast muscle shot with standard lead and copper-plated lead pellets to quantify lead residue concentrations within the wound channel, and we sampled multiple adjacent locations to measure the extent lead contamination spreads through tissue of harvested turkeys. We found that samples taken from the wound channel contained more lead (mean = 3.76 μg/g dry weight) than both samples taken adjacent to the wound channel (mean = 0.20 μg/g dry weight) and samples taken from >5 cm away (mean = 0.15 μg/g dry weight). Additionally, we found that birds harvested with standard lead ammunition did not differ in lead concentrations from those shot with copper-plated lead, suggesting that copper plating does not aid in reducing lead exposure. Our findings suggest that wild turkeys harvested with either lead or copper-plated lead shot have the potential to expose consumers, especially children due to their lower tolerance, to low levels of lead that could exceed daily consumption limits set by the Food and Drug Administration and Centers for Disease Control. However, elevated lead levels were confined to the wound channel, and thus proper preparation of game to remove tissue surrounding wound channels may eliminate or substantially reduce lead exposure from harvested game birds.

Non-lead rifle ammunition: Danish hunters’ attitudes

Background Lead particles from hunting rifle ammunition become embedded in the tissue of shot animals and pose a health risk to predators and scavengers that eat discarded offal or parts of non-retrieved carcasses of shot game animals, as well as to humans who consume game. Copper and copper–zinc alloys are the most widely used alternatives to leaded ammunition. In Denmark, there has been a growing awareness of the toxic environmental effects of lead ammunition and the Danish government, supported by the Danish Hunters’ Association, announced in November 2020 a forthcoming ban on the use of lead-based bullets for hunting purposes intended to take effect in 2023. The question that remains to be addressed is how the Danish hunting community perceives lead ammunition as a problem and non-lead alternatives as a solution, and whether the willingness to change demonstrated by the hunters’ representatives reflects the attitude of the individual hunters. We studied this in a survey targeting 6000 randomly selected Danish rifle hunters, mapping their knowledge and concerns regarding lead rifle ammunition as well as their use of lead and non-lead ammunition. Results We found that approximately one-fifth of the use of rifle ammunition for hunting in Denmark in 2019 was non-lead. Hunters’ knowledge of and concern for the adverse impacts of lead ammunition and the opportunities to switch to non-lead alternatives were generally limited. However, some showed an open-minded attitude and we found that such knowledge and concern increased the likelihood of hunters deciding to use non-lead ammunition. Hunters mainly got their information from hunting organizations and colleagues and expressed a distinct lack of information and guidance on the topic from ministerial authorities responsible for hunting administration. Conclusions Some hunters have already changed to use non-lead rifle ammunition completely or in part, and others show an open attitude to discussing the issue and receiving more information particularly from hunting authorities. Some hunters demonstrated a critical or negative attitude towards a change. Communication of the adverse impacts of leaded ammunition in terms of the risk of lead poisoning to wildlife and humans and the opportunities of switching to the existing efficient and safe alternatives is essential regardless of the formal approach and will be crucial for the effectiveness of the regulation announced by the Danish government.

Marination increases the bioavailability of lead in game meat shot with lead ammunition

As a consequence of the toxicological lead characteristics, a reduction of its exposure should consider all sources. Game meat might contain elevated levels of lead due to the use of lead ammunition. The aim of the present study was to investigate the effects of acidic marination on the bioavailability of ammunition-derived lead in game meat (Roe deer), using the growing pig as an animal model. Furthermore, the study should provide evidence that the large-area scattering of lead particles leads to noticeable differences in the individual lead intake per game meat portion. Pigs of group A (n 7) received lead-shot game meat, which was cooked in water. Pigs of group B (n 7) received lead-shot game meat, which was first marinated (wine and vinegar) and then cooked. The lead content of both game meat preparations was equal with 0⋅77–0⋅79 mg Pb/portion. Pigs of group C (n 4) received lead-free game meat, which was also marinated and cooked. Additionally, lead acetate was administered intravenously to group D pigs (n 4). Blood samples were taken on elevated time points before and after game meat intake/i.v.-application. The acidic marination increased the bioavailability of orally ingested lead, resulting in significantly higher blood lead concentrations. The bioavailability of lead was 2⋅7 % when game meat was just cooked and 15 % when the meat was marinated before. The considerable variation of the individual blood lead concentrations suggests that an inhomogeneous distribution of ammunition-derived lead particles (in terms of size and number) causes individually non-comparable lead intakes from the consumption of game meat.

Direct evidence of poison-driven widespread population decline in a wild vertebrate

Toxicants such as organochlorine insecticides, lead ammunition, and veterinary drugs have caused severe wildlife poisoning, pushing the populations of several apex species to the edge of extinction. These prime cases epitomize the serious threat that wildlife poisoning poses to biodiversity. Much of the evidence on population effects of wildlife poisoning rests on assessments conducted at an individual level, from which population-level effects are inferred. Contrastingly, we demonstrate a straightforward relationship between poison-induced individual mortality and population changes in the threatened red kite (Milvus milvus). By linking field data of 1,075 poisoned red kites to changes in occupancy and abundance across 274 sites (10 × 10-km squares) over a 20-y time frame, we show a clear relationship between red kite poisoning and the decline of its breeding population in Spain, including local extinctions. Our results further support the species listing as endangered, after a breeding population decline of 31% to 43% in two decades of this once-abundant raptor. Given that poisoning threatens the global populations of more than 2,600 animal species worldwide, a greater understanding of its population-level effects may aid biodiversity conservation through increased regulatory control of chemical substances. Our results illustrate the great potential of long-term and large-scale on-ground monitoring to assist in this task.

Setting maximum levels for lead in game meat in EC regulations: An adjunct to replacement of lead ammunition

Each year, hunters from 12 of the 27 European Union (EU) countries and the UK shoot over 6 million large game mammals, 12 million rabbits and hares and over 80 million birds. They support an international game meat market worth over 1.1 thousand million Euros. Animals shot with lead ammunition frequently contain lead fragments in the carcass which contaminate meals made from game meat with concentrations of lead substantially above the maximum allowable level (ML) set by European Commission Regulation EC1881/2006 for meat from domesticated animals. This poses a health risk to frequent consumers of wild-shot game meat, with children and pregnant women being particularly vulnerable. Total replacement of lead rifle and shotgun ammunition with available non-toxic alternatives is needed for all hunting in EU nations to prevent exposure of humans and wildlife to ammunition-derived lead and to allow the depletion of the long-term environmental legacy of lead from spent ammunition. We propose that EC1881/2006 is amended to incorporate an ML for game meats as a supplementary measure to the replacement of lead ammunition. This would harmonise food safety standards for lead in meats traded across and imported into the EU.

Ornitologia kryminalna jako narzędzie identyfikowania zagrożeń cywilizacyjnych w obszarze ochrony środowiska – problem amunicji ołowianej

This article deals with threats related to the use of lead ammunition in hunting. The author analyses the above problem from the perspective ofa new direction in criminology, referred to as “criminal ornithology”. Based on the example of wild bird species, the paper shows the negative impact oflead compounds on human and animal organisms and on the natural environment. In the section devoted to criminological prevention, a proposal was made to completely eliminate lead ammunition and replace it with non-toxic bullets.

Ethical and legal bird hunting duties by Polish veterinarians

Polish veterinarians are committed to specific behaviors. They have an obligation to actively prevent pollution of the natural environment and threats to public health. The law does not prohibit them from hunting though. Hunting birds with lead ammunition is harmful to the environment, birds and humans. In view of the above, it seems that this type of hunting should be forbidden to veterinarians. Unfortunately, Polish law makes it impossible to punish veterinary surgeons for bird hunting with lead ammunition. As hunters, veterinarians are probably aware of the harmfulness of such behavior, but they prioritize their pleasure over environmental concerns. This study examines Polish legal acts related to hunting by veterinarians and presents specific legal provisions requiring and forbidding specific behaviors of veterinarians. According to the law on the profession of the veterinary surgeon, members of this profession must not engage in bird hunting with lead ammunition. The study discusses the difficulty of changing the current situation and forcing Polish veterinary surgeons to abandon bird hunting with toxic ammunition and to actively fight this practice. Veterinarians, in particular those who are hunters, should actively oppose such forms of hunting that are harmful to the natural environment, especially the hunting of game birds with lead ammunition. In accordance with veterinary knowledge, ethics and deontology, all veterinarians should inform the public about the harmfulness of eating game animals shot with lead ammunition, in particular with lead pellets.