CONICET | Buscador de Institutos y Recursos Humanos

Lead poisoning brought California Condors (Gymnogyps californianus) to near extinction, and remains a serious conservation threat for many birds of prey. Reports of lead susceptibility in Andean Condors is isolated to date, but may indicate a larger problem. Our aim was to determine if lead poisoning is a geographically local threat or a regional problem for Andean Condors. We searched for scientific papers, technical reports and popular publications to document lead exposure events in Andean Condor across South-America. We evaluated lead levels from blood, feathers, bone and other tissues, and documented lead pellets found in dead condors´ digestive tracts. Our data indicate exposure events are occurring in Argentina, Chile and Ecuador. The most detailed studies come from Argentina, where lead levels above background or lead poisoning events have been found in all provinces throughout the species? range. In southern Chile there is at least one documented case of a lead poisoned condor. In Ecuador, a group of captive condors originally admitted for rehabilitation presented mean blood lead values up to twice background level. Considering the large evidence of lead exposure in Argentina and that many condors cross between Argentina, Chile and Bolivia, we assume lead exposure documented in Argentina might be similar in Chile and in adjacent countries. The border between Argentina and Chile represents almost sixty percent of tcondor habitat in the Andes Mountains. That evidence together with exposure events in northern latitudes from Ecuador, indicate lead poisoning is a regional problem for condors throughout thier range. Including data from other countries across the species´ distribution will improve this diagnostic. However, it is clear that lead exposure is an extended problem that may be a key factor in the survival of condors and other scavengers.

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