srsincary Loc: Cary, NC

Sad story about such majestic (and photogenic) creatures.

https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2022/feb/17/us-bald-eagles-chronic-lead-exposure

Scruples Loc: Brooklyn, New York

I was quite dismayed that these beautiful raptors are being poisoned.
Dimercaprol is a heavy metal chelation agent. It is administered intravenously to those that have not received an excessive dose of lead. The dose of this medication is based upon the weight of the eagle. If an eagle has too much lead in its body, the results of the use of Dimercaprol are futile.

I hope raptor centers can answer the call for a bird of prey won’t become extinct.

Canisdirus

If we put up enough windmills...we'll get them all in the end.

jerryc41 Loc: Catskill Mts of NY

Yes, it is a shame, but things like this have been going on for a long time, and they will continue.

rcarol

It's interesting that the only raptor to be mentioned as to being poisoned by hunter's bullets is the eagle. Are eagles the only raptor that are atracted to lead? I'm highly suspicious of this article and it's plea for donations.

srsincary Loc: Cary, NC

Rcarol,
The Guardian is a highly respected British newspaper established more than 100 years ago (1821). Unlike the NYT, Washington Post, New Yorker and some other online versions of well-established newspapers that dangle the bait of a couple of free online articles, then place a paywall blocking free access, the Guardian online is always free. But, like Wikipedia - another fantastic free online resource, they can always use donations, and each free online article ends with the same boilerplate donation request.

You can find more about the Guardian here (Wikipedia, where else? 🙂 ).

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Guardian

srsincary Loc: Cary, NC

Jerry,
The bald eagle almost went extinct several decades ago. The banning of DDT, habitat protection, etc. helped the species recover. Eagles were removed from the endangered species list in the 70's. Now this new threat.

https://www.fws.gov/midwest/eagle/history/index.html

rcdovala

One of the two founders of Wikipedia has left the organization declaring that it is broken beyond repair.

srsincary Loc: Cary, NC

That is sad, if true. I have used Wikipedia many, many times over the last 15 years as a software professional and a self-taught data scientist wannabe. I also donate to Wikipedia annually.

rcarol

You can do your own research to verify the validity of the allegations. It shouldn’t be that difficult.

srsincary Loc: Cary, NC

Not sure which allegations you are referring to.
1. Bald eagles dying of lead poisoning. A simple Google search returns many sites covering that story. Maybe there is one fake news source all those sites are quoting. Anything is possible. Beyond a point, validation of a statement that 4x% of eagles have lead poisoning (based on some statistical sampling technique) will require access to sample data that would be almost impossible for me to acquire.

I trust the Guardian reporter did reasonable research and was saddened by it.
2. The Guardian is (not) a reliable source of journalism. Based on its 101 year history, I trust it. YMMV.
3. Wikipedia is dying. Perhaps, due to the complexity of it's editorial policies, people wanting to contribute and edit using phones instead of real computers with bigger screens where using the more complex markup language for editing is hard to use, etc. Lots of articles on that, one even in The Guardian. 🙂

I just said that it is sad if Wikipedia is dying. I also said that I benefited from it professionally over a decade, which is a fact.

That is all. No controversy intended.