Very informative, J.W. . As for the gut pile, how would the lead get there, unless the animal, in question was gut shot? I would think the gut pile would be fine, for the scavengers. The lungs, yeah, bury those, but unless the animal was gut shot, I don't see how lead would be there. As for ducks eating lead, the only ones, that would be likely to eat, lead, would be the diving ducks, and not the non diving, like Mallard, teal, canvas back, golden eye, etc.. They banned the helium balloons, near the oceans, or tried to ban them, as they claimed the sea turtles, were eating them, thinking they were jelly fish. They only found "ONE" that had a piece of balloon in it's stomach. The majority, of turtle deaths, other than nets, were plastic ice bags, that idiots, toss over board, or do not put in a container, so that they don't blow out, and dispose of them later. I like lead. Kinda hard to shoot solid copper, out of a muzzle loader, and the wear on rifles, is greater, as there is no give, as in a lead core, bullet. If they use a plastic sleeve, like the accelerator bullet Winchester brought out a long time ago, where, you could put a sleeve, on a .25 cal. and shoot it in a.30 caliber rifle, and have go at a much greater speed. OK. But I don't know if that is what the solid bullets are like or not. Personally, I really don't want to shoot solid copper out of my rifle. I would shoot the solid copper slug out of my shotgun, as it is encased in a plastic sleeve. I am doing Chelation now. The main ingredient, is mag sulfate, it is mixed with EDTA, and vitamin C. Cleans, out toxins, cleans out the arteries, and detoxifies in general. I know I have eaten a bit more than a few pieces of #7 and 8 bird shot. Hopefully, this I.V. therapy, will get the lead out also, as well as all the other toxins, I was exposed to from the Army, and the Fire Dept. But I wonder, how many Condors died from lead poisoning, by being shot. could the bullet in the crop, have been a result of some idiot shooting at it, as it soared above? Anyway, it is a subject that can be argued, back and forth, with facts,on both sides, and adlib, by either side, with an agenda. J.W. brings up good points, about the buzzards eating anything hard, in a carcass, and the Condor, is nothing but a big buzzard, with gay colors! Jack Crafty, brings up good points also. Money is a big factor in grants, for a study, of anything. There was a guy who used to come on Johnny Carson, and he would show some of the wasteful Government grants. One couple got a couple hundred grand, for an art grant. The flew a plane, over the waters, of some South American, beach, and tossed out rolls of colored paper strips, and filmed it, and called it art. The best one though, was a guy who got something, like 150 thousand dollars, to study social life, in a Peruvian uh.....house of kitties. So, I think it all comes down, to how you personally are affected, and your connections to one side or the other. As for re introducing a almost extinct species, I don't think they put enough thought into it, as to how well that animal is going to fare, in a much reduced area, that it once thrived in, as for food, and shelter, etc. The idiots that re introduced the wolves here, in Montana, and Wyoming, didn't think of the impact on the Moose, Elk, and deer populations. Especially, after the wolf population bred far past their biggest estimate of how many wolves there would be in a few years, and the wolves they introduced were Canadian, and some were hybrids. When you get a 250lb. wolf, that just isn't your normal wolf! Yeah, the Condor, deserves to at least get a chance to survive in a much changed world, but I just don't see there being that much lead available to be eaten by them, before something else gets the "lost" game. Just my opinion.
Wayne