Seeing a California condor is an amazing sight, but did you know that 40 years ago they almost went extinct? In 1982 there were only 22 California condors left in the whole world! How can a species that has been around since the Pleistocene suddenly be so low in numbers? One important piece to understanding our impact on scavengers is knowing that California condors are obligate scavengers, meaning they solely eat dead things - they do not hunt at all. Because of this, they have a high chance of eating animals that have been shot by hunters. Unfortunately, some hunters are using lead ammunition and leaving contaminated gut piles in the field without understanding the impact they are causing. Lead ammunition, unlike alternatives such as copper, tends to fragment into hundreds of little pieces upon impact making it impossible for a hunter or a scavenging animal to pick the small fragments out of a carcass. When scavengers such as coyotes, eagles, and condors eat this meat, they ingest the little bits of lead. Lead has severe impacts on the nervous system as it builds up in the body, causing the inability to digest food or water which often results in death if not treated. Lead poisoning has become the biggest challenge to the success of the California condor in the United States and is currently being monitored closely through annual trapping efforts. Hunters can be extremely beneficial to scavenging animals by providing meat on the landscape during hunting season, however, this benefit only exists if the hunter ensures this food is lead free and safe for the wildlife who eat it! #CondorWeek