Bald eagle flies again in Kansas thanks to veterinary intervention after lead poisoning

Almost 11 years ago, the American bald eagle was officially removed from being listed as an endangered species under federal law. However, environmental contamination still threatens these majestic birds—even here in Kansas.

One of the most common threats to this species is lead poisoning. Thanks to diligent action by concerned landowners, local law enforcement, staff of the Milford Nature Center and veterinary intervention at Kansas State University, one bald eagle has regained its health and spread its wings to fly again through the skies over the Tuttle Creek River Pond near Manhattan.

“This eagle was brought to us on Jan. 11,” recalled James Carpenter, professor of wildlife and zoological medicine in the Veterinary Health Center at Kansas State University. “It was depressed, emaciated, not eating and unable to fly. The prognosis for regaining its health appeared poor. The bird was determined to be a 4.5-year-old male.”

After the bird was admitted to the VHC, the staff performed a physical examination, took radiographs and obtained a blood sample to evaluate its health status.

“We began chelation—using medications that reduce the lead levels—and between that and intensive supportive care, the bird’s condition improved,” Carpenter said.

Carpenter said the treatment of the eagle was a great educational opportunity. He was assisted on this case by Rob Browning along with three fourth-year veterinary students and a veterinary technician. The students named the bald eagle Spar, and after five days of treatment, Spar was sent for rehabilitation to the Milford Nature Center, northwest of Junction City, Kansas. Recovery of this bird was a team effort between the VHC and the Milford Nature Center.

The Milford Nature Center has a variety of specialized enclosures for birds, particularly birds of prey, including a large flight pen.

“The birds are placed in there to build up muscle and strength prior to being released,” Avara said. “That’s where [the bald eagle] has been for several weeks now, so we’ve watched his ability and strength improve over that period of time. He was obviously ready to go.”

Avara said lead poisoning has been a common problem recently.

“This situation happens because [eagles] eat something else that has been ingesting lead,” Avara said. “So it’s not that they get shot or something like that usually. It’s because they’ve eaten enough fish that have ingested lead sinkers or they have eaten deer that were shot with lead ammunition. A lot of people don’t realize how much lead ammunition fragments when it hits a target. Fragments can go 17 inches from the entry point, and some of that is microscopic. It doesn’t take much to poison a bird like an eagle—maybe two or three pieces the size of a BB can cause serious problems with one of those birds.”

“Once the lead gets into the gastrointestinal tract of an eagle, it breaks down and is absorbed,” Carpenter said. “Lead gets into the blood stream affecting numerous organs, resulting in clinical signs of disease including neurologic signs. Most eagles with lead toxicity will die or, even if rescued, may be euthanized if they are profoundly ill.”

Browning and his students visited Spar at the Milford Nature Center a few times and monitored the lead levels in his blood.

“We continued the chelation treatment,” Carpenter said, “and Spar responded very favorably, meaning that the lead in his blood was reduced to a safe level.”

Finally, at the end March, Spar was taken to Tuttle Creek where he was released.

“With every animal that we have come through rehab, release is our goal,” Avara said. “It isn’t always the outcome and to get that eagle out there is awesome, because I have had two eagles die in my hands from lead poisoning in the last three months.”

“Seeing that bird successfully released after 2 months of care was incredible.” Carpenter added. “It’s one of the best releases I’ve ever seen and it was really exciting. I also think it had a great impact on our students and others who were viewing the release. We’re really appreciative of the wildlife fund that we have at the Veterinary Health Center because that’s what paid for all the diagnostics and medications provided to this bird. It was an awesome day and I’m just appreciative that I was involved, and our students could be involved and to see the whole process.”

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Kansas State University toxicologist warns not to forgot about lead exposure

By Joe Montgomery

Kansas State University

A recent case of a bald eagle found with symptoms of lead exposure has refocused the sites of Kansas State University animal health experts on an age-old problem.

Steve Ensley, a professor in the College of Veterinary Medicine, serves as a toxicologist for the Kansas State Veterinary Diagnostic Laboratory. He oversaw the diagnosis of blood samples from a locally found bald eagle earlier this year that was treated by Kansas State University veterinarians in the Veterinary Health Center and later released back into the wild in late March.

“They were giving the eagle an antidote to trying to eliminate the lead from the body, and we were going to measure how fast it decreased,” Ensley said. “The analytical method is similar for all species—humans and animals—the instrument and instrumentation we have is fairly unique.”

Ensley said that eagles aren’t the only animals susceptible to lead poisoning.

“There was a significant exposure in Iowa in 2016,” Ensley said. “A [cattle] producer had a 75-pound tractor battery that got ground up and was inadvertently fed to 100 animals in a feedlot.”

He estimated approximately 100 head of cattle were exposed to lead and another 20 cow-calf pairs that were also exposed in the incident.

“That was a large death loss—a large number of animals that were affected at one time,” Ensley noted somberly.

Ensley mentioned the problem with lead has notably been in the media due to exposure in humans.

“There have been a lot of problems in Flint, Michigan, with lead,” Ensley said. “Lead is a problem that’s not going to go away in the foreseeable future because we don’t have a good way to make sure it’s not in the environment.”

Ensley teaches toxicology to the sophomore veterinary students, and said his class recently covered the subject of lead and other heavy metals.

“I always tell them that if you see an animal with any kind of nervous signs, lead should be one of the things you think about,” Ensley said. “If we can get one milliliter of whole blood—it’s an inexpensive test we can do here at Kansas State and tell you whether it is or isn’t a problem. When I teach veterinary students about it, I say if you have a large animal ruminant, and they’re showing CMS signs, the potential for lead toxicity should be high on your differential list. Don’t forget about it because you don’t think it happens very often. It’s more common than you would believe.”

For information on blood lead testing, visit the Kansas State Veterinary Diagnostic Laboratory website at http://www.ksvdl.org/ or contact KSVDL Client Care at 866-512-5650 or [email protected].