A bald eagle recently died in northeastern Pennsylvania from lead poisoning and animal-rescue officials at the Carbon County Environmental Education Center in Summit Hill believe the eagle somehow ate a lead fragment, possibly a piece of a bullet.
Ammunition left in the wild by hunters is the most common source of lead poisoning in wildlife, according to environmental groups.
Before leaving office, President Barack Obama issued a directive banning lead ammunition and lead fishing sinkers on federal land, NPR reported, but now there's a push to get President Donald Trump to overturn the ban.
Just like humans, animals can get sick and die after ingesting lead.
At the Pennsylvania environmental center, the chief naturalist described the eagle as extremely sick when it was brought in.
"It's head was down. It was vomiting, and it had a very watery, green diarrhea and obviously neurological problems, too," Susan Gallagher told WNEP TV. Tests later showed the 4-year-old female eagle had very high levels of lead in its system when it died.
Waterfowl hunters have been using lead-free ammunition for decades.
But other kinds of hunters are resistant to banning lead in ammunition.
Opponents, including Lawrence Keane with the National Shooting Sports Foundation, contend the ban would increase the cost of hunting. Keane also pointed out, during an interview with NPR, that there’s no proof of any significant impact on wildlife due to leftover ammo in the wild.
So far, the Trump administration hasn’t addressed the issue.
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