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No Fires - Fire Danger Very High - No Fuego
No Fires in the campground, no smoking on the trails. Observe these rules to protect park resources. No se permite fumar en los senderos, tampoco se permite las fogatas en el campamento. Proteja los recursos del parque y respete las advertencias.
Lead Bullet Risks for Wildlife & Humans
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Understand the Role of Hunting 
California condors feed on a carcass. NPS Photo Most lead-core rifle bullets fragment into hundreds of tiny pieces when they strike animal tissue. Lead-tainted meat may become part of scavengers' food supplies when any of the following occur: a wounded animal escapes a hunting attempt, an animal shot as a pest is not retrieved from the field, or when gutpiles remain on the landscape after a hunt. Over the past 3 decades, California condor recovery efforts have brought to light how this lead pathway in the ecosystem can threaten even the very survival of a species.But as you will see, impacts extend to many other wildlife species also. 
X-Ray of condor 318 with lead fragments in the digestive tract. This bird died from lead poisoning in 2012. NPS Photo Numerous scientific studies have reached a consensus: lead poisoning is the biggest threat facing the successful recovery of the California condor. Semi-annual test results show that the majority of free-flying condors at Pinnacles National Park have blood lead levels that exceed 10 ug/dL, which is the same threshold used by the Center for Disease Control as an initial warning sign that a human child is at risk. Some condors have been measured with blood lead levels as high as 570 ug/dL, a value that would potentially kill a human. By the time condors at Pinnacles reach breeding age of 7 years old, almost all of them have received emergency, life-saving chelation treatment at least once. Numerous condors in the flock have now required multiple chelation cycles. Scientific studies have documented that the primary source of this lead is from spent ammunition that remains in carcasses after they are shot. When a lead rifle bullet traveling at almost 3 times the speed of sound strikes animal tissue, it quickly begins to expand and loses hundreds of tiny pieces as it continues its journey. The organs and other bloodshot areas that are trimmed away and left behind are usually contaminated with these lead fragments. Because condors feed on dead animals and are group feeders, even small amounts of lead can sicken or kill many condors. Also, since all of their meals come from dead animals, condors are more frequently exposed to lead bullet hazards than most wildlife. 
Golden eagles feed on a carcass in San Benito County, CA However, lead poisoning through ingestion of spent lead bullets and shell shot has been demonstrated as being a serious factor for many other wildlife species too, including our national symbol the bald eagle. Other scavengers that have documented as being affected include golden eagles, hawks, ravens, turkey vultures, and grizzly bears. 
In this X-ray of a package of processed meat, lead fragments are circled in red. Human Health Concerns Studies are increasingly showing that lead fragments can also be found in wild game meat processed for human consumption, even though best attempts are made in the field to remove sections that are within the bullet wound channel. Also, when these tainted packages were fed to domestic pigs, blood levels became elevated with 2 days of ingestion. This demonstrates that while the results are preliminary and much further study needs to be done to better assess risks to humans, it appears that the if lead bullets are used, odds are high that you will ingest lead particles in ground game meat. 
Another study was conducted in North Dakota that examined ground venison packages that had been donated by hunters to food pantries. It found that 59% of the packages had lead fragments. Lead Bullet Fragmentation These photos show examples of fragmentation in lead bullets. 
This photo shoes a lead bullet that has been shot into a ballistic gelatin block. This technique allows you to see the tissue disruption caused by a bullet, and in the case of lead bullets, gives you a good idea of the scattering of fragments as the bullet passes through the gel block. The density of these gel blocks is designed to approximate what muscle tissue is like.
This x-ray shows the same block of ballistic gel. As you can see, the non-lead bullets at the top and bottom of the screen gave a good wound channel, but didn’t exhibit any fragmentation. By contrast, the lead-core bullet in the middle shows a huge amount of fragmentation as the bullet passed through the gel block. The same thing happens in animals, but can be even worse when the bullet strikes bones and keeps on travelling. Even lead bullets that exit an animal leave a toxic trail of lead fragments behind.
This x-ray image shows more than 450 lead bullet fragments that were spread through the neck of a mule deer after it was shot with a lead rifle bullet. The lead fragments appear as dark spots, while any bone chips would be light gray in color due to their much lower density. Just a few of these fragments contain enough lead to sicken or kill a bald eagle or California condor.
This x-ray shows the broken ribs in the chest of a deer after it was shot with a Barnes-Triple Shock non-lead rifle bullet. Note that the mushroomed bullet is intact, unlike the lead bullet in the deer neck x-ray above.
X-ray of wild pig skull; shot twice with 9mm Barnes non-lead bullets Pig shot with non-lead ammo 
This photo compares two different .270 caliber bullets that have been discharged and retrieved. Notice how the nonlead bullet shown on the right upon impact has mushroomed out, but remained in one piece. The lead bullets on the left however, disintegrated into hundreds of lead fragments that are toxic not only to condors, but also to other wildlife. Ingested lead bullet fragments may also pose a risk to human health.
This photo shows a Remington Core-Lokt lead-core rifle bullet that has been discharged and retrieved. Notice the numerous lead fragments that resulted from the bullet expanding and that the bullet only retained 70% of the original mass.
Links to more information about lead and wildlife List of Scientific StudiesCalifornia Department of Fish & Game: Get the Lead Out Arizona Game and Fish: Condors and Lead USGS: National Wildlife Health Center USGS: Lead Poisoning In Wild Birds University of Minnesota Raptor Center Ingestion of Spent Lead Ammunition: Implications for Wildlife and Humans - Proceedings of the Conference Peregrine Fund's Bullet Fragmentation Study: Supplementary Data and Images Saving Our Avian Resources Project Gutpile
Local and online non-lead ammo retailers Hog Blog - Lead Ban Chronicles
Centerfire Ammunition Hornady GMX Bullets Rimfire Ammunition
Center for Disease Control Main Lead Page Examination of Presence of Lead Bullet Fragments in Commercially Processed Ground Venison |
Did You Know?
Pinnacles National Park offers comingled recycling of many materials, including cans, glass, paper, cardboard, and plastics 1 - 7. During your visit, just look for one of our recycling bins in any of our parking areas.