California condor recovery from near-extinction has been remarkable, but lead poisoning from spent ammunition remains a significant ongoing welfare threat limiting full wild population recovery.
Lead poisoning in condors represents a case where a welfare solution exists but requires behavioral change from hunters. Condors that ingest lead fragments from gut piles and carcasses left by hunters experience acute neurological poisoning that is agonizing and frequently fatal without intervention. The solution, switching to non-lead ammunition, has no performance disadvantage for hunters and is increasingly mandated in condor range states. The welfare cost of continued lead ammunition use falls entirely on condors who cannot advocate for themselves.