Kewanee rescue helps Bald Eagles poisoned by lead-based hunting ammunition
A wildlife rescue and rehab is calling for change, after helping multiple bald eagles with lead poisoning.
Hog Capitol Wildfire Rescue and Rehab, based out of Kewanee, helps wild animals back to health. The rescue is now helping bald eagles that have contracted lead poisoning and say it’s a growing concern among the birds.
“They don’t show their illness until it’s almost too late,” Tamara Yarger, the Hog Capitol Wildlife Rescue and Rehab Founder, said. “Every system in their body starts to shut down from this. Their blood thickens, they end up with all kinds of problems and they suffer greatly. We just want that to stop.”
Lead poisoning in area bald eagles is credited to hunters using lead ammunition. “The main way that they’re getting lead poisoning is from the deer gut piles after the deer hunters have been out,” Yarger said. “It’s because lead is the cheapest, and it does the most damage with the quickest kill.”
The rescue helps all kinds of wild animals, but it’s seen an increase of bald eagles with lead poisoning over the past few weeks. One rescued bird named IDOT did not make it over the weekend, despite his lead test results lowering each day. The rescue says a shard of lead the size of a grain of rice is enough to kill an eagle. “Either stop using lead or be responsible when you’re leaving,” Yarger said. “This is our nation’s bird that’s suffering because of it. I am telling you right now it is suffering.”
Testing the birds everyday allows Yarger to monitor the birds’ lead levels, and gives them the correct dosage of medicine to give the eagles. “Our donors have helped us purchase the equipment to test for lead now,” Yarger said. “That helps us watch and monitor and see when the levels get high or low.”
Although eagles in the area are not endangered, Yarger says it could change at any moment if the lead trend continues. “You don’t know how soon it could turn around go the other way and they could end up back on the endangered species list,” Yarger said. “We don’t want that.”
One success story for the rescue is with an eagle named Miss BG, or Miss Beautiful Girl. She has been lead-free for a couple of days, bringing her back to normal levels before being rescued. Miss BG still needs help with neurological help, but the rescue is confident in their efforts to help the eagle.
Hog Capitol Wildlife Rescue and Rehab says they save animals across Henry County and will travel as far as they have to, to save the bald eagles from lead poisoning.
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