US bald eagles poisoned by lead

The bald eagle, symbol of the US, is being killed by lead poisoning from guns, according to new research.

The birds of prey are not in the crosshairs of hunters, but are consuming deer that have been shot.

Even very small amounts of lead contamination in scavenged meat can be enough to kill an eagle, poisoning which increases during deer season. Lead shot has reduced population growth by around five per cent annually in the north east.

The bird has been the national symbol of the US since 1782. It became a global “environmental pin-up” in the 1960s and 1970s as numbers plummeted from the effects of DDT.

Once the pesticide was banned half a century ago, the population began to rebound, gradually at first and then with increasing vigour.

In 2007, the US Fish and Wildlife Service removed the eagle from the federal endangered species list.