Conserving Wyoming’s Heritage
Public Education to Protect Raptors
Wyoming Wildlife Foundation
This story is from our Fall 2024 newsletter. See the full newsletter here!
When Hannah Leonard, Program Director for Sporting Lead-Free (SLF), was out hunting she came across a golden eagle lying limp on the ground. She helped the raptor right away. “I knew it would die if it didn’t get help,” says Hannah. She was surprised when the director at a wildlife rehab facility told her the eagle had lead poisoning. Eagles are unintentionally eating fragments of lead bullets when they eat from gut piles left behind by hunters.
Golden eagle foraging from a carcass.
Golden eagle with lead poisoning being treated in a wildlife rehab facility.
Sporting Lead-Free, an initiative of the Teton Raptor Center, is focused on teaching about the risk of lead poisoning to raptors.
After a lead bullet hits an animal, it breaks apart, leaving tiny lead fragments in the animal. Raptors may eat those pieces when feeding on the carcass that is left behind. Similarly, lead fishing tackle can get stuck or swallowed by fish. When raptors eat these fish, the lead poisons them.
Thanks to your support, a grant from the Wyoming Wildlife Foundation (WWF), priority fund of WYCF, makes this possible.
SLF tracks eagle populations to discover how lead affects their populations. Pictured is Bryan holding a golden eagle.
“We are creating a community of hunters and anglers who believe in the mission and share the message with their friends and family,” says Bryan Bedrosian, Founder of SLF.
Wyoming’s 22 raptor species are vital for our healthy ecosystem, and they are some of our most iconic wildlife. Bryan has tracked lead levels in eagles before, during, and after hunting season and sees much higher lead levels during hunting season. “There are so few issues these days where there’s such a clear answer,” says Bryan. “Every person I talk to who switches to leadfree ammunition is immediately saving eagles.”
SLF partners with both hunting and conservation groups who want to make a change.
“It’s all about keeping things positive and proactive,” Bryan says. “Hunters are the solution to this, not the problem. That’s the strength in what we’ve built so far, bringing folks together, not dividing.”
Because of donors like you who have given to WWF, Bryan and Hannah can educate Wyomingites of all ages about lead poisoning.
A simple switch can make a big difference. SLF helps with the annual Kids Fishing Day and has been able to hand out hundreds of lead-free tackle kits to families across the state. They also work with partners to get their message into hunter safety classes, high school science classrooms, and wildlife centers.
Your support of the Wyoming Wildlife Foundation helps educate hunters and anglers so Wyomingites can continue our sporting heritage.
SLF makes displays to show why switching to lead-free in the field saves raptors. In the sample above, the bullet on the left is made of lead and breaks into many tiny fragments that scatter throughout the path of the bullet through the animal. The red circle shows 20 milligrams of lead, which is enough to kill an adult bald eagle. It’s about the size of a grain of rice or the weight of a ladybug! In contrast, the bullet on the left is made of copper and stays together. It doesn’t break into tiny pieces which means no harmful fragments spread into the meat for raptors to eat.
Want to make a difference for Wyoming’s raptors? Make the switch to lead free yourself! For information on making the switch and resources to share this message with family and friends, visit: https://www.sportingleadfree.org/