Scapegoating Lead-Based Ammunition: Why Bullets Aren’t the Smoking Gun in Vulture Declines
The widespread decline of vulture populations across Africa has rightly become a significant conservation concern. While various anthropogenic threats contribute to this crisis, the narrative often points to lead-based ammunition as a primary culprit for unintended, secondary lead poisoning in these scavenging birds. However, an in-depth look at available evidence and arguments from stakeholders in South Africa suggests that this may not be the main source of mortality, and that other, often more pervasive, threats demand greater attention.
