The California Fish and Game Commission today heard a report from its scientists that, while not providing conclusive evidence about the benefits of the state’s lead ammunition ban for the California Condor, certainly offers a lot of hope. Although the data on which the report is based suffers from small sample size and other limitations, it does indicate a decline in blood lead levels after the ban went into effect on July 1 of last year.

It is important to understand that both the State Department of Fish and Game and the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service believe that these numbers are not conclusive, and do not indicate any cause and effect with regard to the lead ban. By all accounts, it's too early to tell. However, the state scientist who presented the data to the Commission admitted that the data, however limited, does seem to show a decline in lead levels after July 1, 2008. “If this trend continues, it will be good for the condors and for recovery, and that’s what we’re after,” he said.

The report assumes that the background level of lead in condors at 10 micrograms per deciliter of blood. It then determined the number of condors tested that were above or below this background level. In all, 72 condors were tested for the report, providing 148 samples. The testing period was January through December of 2008.

The report found that 23 of 35 (60 percent) condors had lower lead level after the July 1 ban went into effect. 12 of the 35 (34 percent) had higher levels after July 1.

Interestingly, the number of condors in what is called the Southern California Group whose blood was found to contain more than the background level of lead fell from 74 percent before July 1 to 62 percent after July 1. The numbers for the Central California condors, however, rose from 41 percent before July 1 to 50 percent after.

We'll get you a link to the report as soon as we find it online.