Turkey vultures are essential ecological scavengers facing significant mortality from lead poisoning when they consume carcasses and gut piles from animals shot with lead ammunition.
Lead poisoning in vultures and other scavenging raptors causes severe neurological symptoms including inability to fly, seizures, starvation, and slow death. Lead from rifle ammunition fragments extensively through game carcasses and gut piles left in the field, creating a highly bioavailable source for scavengers. Even low-level lead exposure impairs immune function, reproductive success, and flight performance. Non-lead ammunition alternatives including copper bullets are fully effective and widely available. Condors, which are ecologically similar, have experienced severe population-level impacts from lead ammunition. Multiple studies confirm that voluntary and mandatory transitions to non-lead ammunition dramatically reduce raptor blood lead levels.