Thread: Time to re-introduce a paying for deer/goat tail scheme?

Originally Posted by woods223

Can you provide links to scientific ( peer reviewed ) literature regarding lead isotope testing in NZ kea? Otherwise I call bullshit on your statements. How many bullets do you think are dispersed over Kea habitat ffs.

Sure. Start with this one and then follow the referenced published literature from there. Page 17 - 3.2.4 Implications of wild animal control and hunting using lead ammunition.

https://www.doc.govt.nz/globalassets...c339entire.pdf

An NZ specific study has been undertaken and preliminary results are in line with published global studies. I can share that paper with you once it is published.

I'm not that keen to debate the specifics of these studies; that's already been done by the academics and has / is being published in credible journals. More interested to know what you will do with this information and if it will change your behavior?

FWIW I'd estimate 1000s of leaded ammo per year across kea habitat. When was the last time you retrieved the projectile and all fragments from a carcass? Fair to assume most would cut around the damaged and tainted meat and leave it at the kill site, or not recover anything at all.

It's worth pointing out that a kea weighs around 600 gram, so a 9 gram projectile is around 1.5% of the bird's mass. That would be similar to you eating say 1.5kg of lead (assuming you weigh 100kg).

The kea population is estimated to be 3000-5000 birds remaining.