Hunters' use of lead ammunition and, at times, its toxic effect on scavenger species like eagles who ingest fragments at kill sites continue to produce news headlines and urgent bulletins from conservation groups.
Yet, evidence of any collective action nationally toward totally banning lead ammunition (and fishing tackle) in favor of safer substances such as copper is in short supply.
California stands as an example of broad action after it banned lead ammo in the California condor's habitat in 2008. Researchers and conservationists had built a case against lead owing to the demise of the condor population, which feeds on carcasses and guts left behind, mostly by hunters using rifles. As little as a gram of lead can be lethal to a raptor. The state went further in 2019, enacting a full lead ban on all hunting.
