Making a Difference in the Fight Against Lead Poisoning in Iowa's Wildlife

July 16, 2018 7:18 PM

In February of 2018, wildlife biologists and veterinarians investigated the suspicious death of 32 trumpeter swans in a Clinton County wetland. What befell these icons of conservation in Iowa puzzled investigators, but in the end there was evidence to suggest that the toxic properties of lead the birds had accidentally ingested played at least an intervening role in their sudden death. Although trumpeter swan populations have been and continue to grow in Iowa, the sudden and unnatural death of those 32 swans, and other more isolated cases of lead poisoning deaths among other waterbirds, scavenging birds, and birds of prey across Iowa, has prompted interest in finding ways to reduce exposure and curtail these unnatural deaths...

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Author(s): 

Adam Janke Associate Professor

Adam Janke is the statewide Wildlife Extension Specialist with Iowa State University Extension and Outreach. Adam is a trained wildlife biologist, having received a B.S., M.S., and Ph.D. in wildlife conservation and ecology from three land-grant schools in the Midwest.  He is also certified ...