Open AccessIs release of rehabilitated wildlife with embedded lead ammunition advisable? Plumbism in a Jaguar Panthera Onca (Mammalia: Carnivora: Felidae), survivor of gunshot wounds
Author(s) -
Eduardo A. Díaz,
Carolina Sáenz,
E. Santiago Jiménez,
David A. Egas,
Kelly Swing
Publication year - 2021
Publication title -
journal of threatened taxa
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.264
H-Index - 8
eISSN - 0974-7907
pISSN - 0974-7893
DOI - 10.11609/jott.5777.13.12.19808-19812
Subject(s) - ammunition , panthera , wildlife , jaguar , shot (pellet) , zoology , toxicology , biology , ecology , predation , geography , chemistry , archaeology , organic chemistry
Lead poisoning is a threat to wildlife, particularly after ingestion of lead ammunition derived from hunting activities. Little information, however, is available concerning plumbism in wild animals that survive the trauma associated with gunshot wounds. This study presents a possible example of lead intoxication by embedded pellets in a Jaguar Panthera onca nineteen months after being injured by a shotgun blast. In addition, the possible path of incorporation of lead into the trophic chain after the eventual release and death of an impacted animal, thereby expanding and prolonging the toxic effects of lead ammunition, is discussed. Direct intoxication by ammunition retained in the body of wild animals, as well as the indirect impacts on predators and scavengers that consume their flesh, should be sufficient reasons to reconsider the release of individuals with embedded lead ammunition into the wild.