A California Condor was apparently ill (with suspected lead poisoning) so it was brought in for treatment. It was then discovered that it had been shot some time earlier .
Unable to eat on its own, the condor was under intensive care at the Los Angeles Zoo and its prognosis was guarded, said Susie Kasielke, curator of birds.
X-rays taken at the zoo turned up shotgun pellets embedded in its flesh, she said. Those wounds had healed.
It could not be determined if the pellets were lead or steel, but the poisoning was most likely caused by the bird ingesting spent lead ammunition in carcasses of animals that had been shot by hunters, Kasielke said.
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Lead shot is one of those things that suggests that hunters don't love nature as much as they say they do.