One eagle in Canada died from lead poisoning, succumbing to organ failure after two weeks at a rescue center.
Bald eagles in Canada and the U.S. are being poisoned to death by the lead found in hunting ammunition and fishing weights. Both the BC Wildlife Park in British Columbia, Canada, and the Alaska Raptor Center said bald eagles had recently died in their care as a result of lead poisoning. On February 7, the Alaska Raptor Center said a bald eagle died at the center from a case of lead poisoning. Three days earlier, the BC Wildlife Park said that a bald eagle had died in their care with organ failure the cause of death. The animal succumbed after it was brought in suffering lead poisoning two weeks before it died. Lead poisoning presents a direct risk to birds of prey in North America such as bald and golden eagles, which sometimes scavenge for food. The Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS) said that while lead poisoning can occur naturally, scientific evidence has pointed to lead ammunition as the leading cause of lead poisoning in scavenging birds like eagles and vultures in the United States.
