A rare California condor is currently being treated for lead poisoning by veterinarians at the Oakland Zoo.
The condor, which was given the name Miracle, is the first wild chick born in more than a hundred years in Big Sur as part of a feeding program called the California Condor Recovery.
"She's poisoned," Dr. Andrea Goodnight, a veterinarian at the California zoo, said. "She has this toxin running through her body. Ultimately this toxin will kill her."
Miracle was captured by a team of researchers from the Pinnacles National Park last week. While examining the bird, they discovered that it had high levels of lead in its blood stream.
The researchers believe the bird could have been poisoned while scavenging on animal carcasses killed using a hunter's lead shot.
"Say a hunter goes out, makes a kill or thinks there's a kill made, and the animal is just wounded and runs off," Goodnight explained.
"The birds are really good at finding those animals because that's their job."
Members of the Firearms Industry Trade Association, however, said that bullets are not the ones causing lead poisoning in condors.
"Condors are exposed to other sources of lead in the environment and that lead from other sources has the same isotope range as traditional ammunition, which is made with recycled lead," National Shooting Sports Foundation vice president and general counsel Lawrence Keane said.
Miracle is the first bird being cared for at the Oakland Zoo's new condor care facility.
Workers at the zoo are giving the condor doses of a synthetic drug that will enable it to excrete the poison from its body. They are also giving Miracle many dead mice and rats to feed on.
Officials from the Oakland Zoo said that they plan to release Miracle back into the wild once it has fully healed from the lead poisoning.
The California condor is considered to be one of the most critically endangered species of birds in the world. There are only around 240 birds left in the wild in California according to wildlife authorities.
The wing tag on Miracle says that it is number 38.
Photo: Sheila Sund | Flickr
