A program to reduce lead-poisoning risks for Bald Eagles

Two No.6 lead pellets is more than enough to kill an adult Bald Eagle (Photo: Angela Myers)

The Sutton Center has started 2016 with a new outreach program designed to shed light on a major risk facing Bald Eagles in Oklahoma – secondary lead-poisoning. (See our news interviews with Channel 6 – Tulsa)

Wintering eagles will often scavenge gut piles or unrecovered carcasses, which often contain many small fragments of spent lead ammunition. Since merely a pinhead-sized fragment can permanently debilitate or even kill an adult eagle, the threat to this species is high.

We are working hard to get the word out about alternative bullet-types – and to let curious folks try the ammunition out for themselves at demonstration events throughout the state.

Read more about the lead-poisoning threat to Bald Eagles here.