'He's in our hearts': Family and friends still seek answers one year after Nathan Wise’s disappearance
It’s been a year since Nathan Wise went missing and his family is no closer to finding out what happened to him.
Bald eagles have lifted themselves from the brink of extinction in the United States but deaths caused by lead poisoning from ingesting hunters' bullets left in wildlife remains are holding back their population recovery, scientists say.
Population increases of the majestic bird recognized as the national symbol of the United States have been suppressed by 6.3 percent for males and 4.2 percent for females, said the study by researchers at the Department of Public and Ecosystem Health at Cornell University, published in the Journal of Wildlife Management this week.
"Mortalities from the ingestion of (lead) reduced the long-term growth rate and resiliency of bald eagles in the northeast United States over the last 3 decades," the study said.
The lead is found in organs left behind in the wild by hunters who "field dress," or gut, their kill, abandoning the contaminated remains to be scavenged by eagles.
Once threatened by the use of the insecticide DDT to help control disease during the Second World War, bald eagle populations have recovered enough that the species was removed from the national endangered and threatened list in 2021.
But less robust growth rates mean the eagle population could be more vulnerable to other challenges such as natural disasters or disease spread, Cornell researchers said.
"While abundances have increased, ingested (lead) has a negative effect on eagle populations in the northeast United States... these conditions have stressed the resilience of this population," researchers said in the study.
Political skirmishes over lead bullets have divided Americans and have even reached the White House. President Barack Obama's Fish and Wildlife Service issued a ban on lead ammunition to protect wildlife in January 2017, one day before the inauguration of incoming president Donald Trump.
Less than two months later, on his first day as Trump's Interior Secretary, Ryan Zinke overturned the prohibition to the cheers of the National Rifle Association.
In the Cornell study's most recent year – 2018 – there were 2,050 breeding females, a reduction of an estimated 98 breeding females as a result of lead poisoning. Similarly, in 2018, there were 10,172 females who were not reproducing, a reduction of an estimated 742 non-breeding females as a result of lead poisoning, said Cornell researcher Brenda Hanley.
In 2018 there were 2,050 breeding males, a maximal reduction of an estimated 65 breeding males as a result of lead poisoning. Similarly, here were 10,172 males who were not reproducing, a maximum reduction of an estimated 1,645 non-breeding males as a result of lead poisoning, Hanley told Reuters.
"This study can be used by state and federal wildlife managers... to inform policy surrounding the use of lead ammunition or to educate hunters on the population-scale effects of their ammunition choices," researchers said in the study.
It’s been a year since Nathan Wise went missing and his family is no closer to finding out what happened to him.
Dozens of Ontarians are expressing frustration in the province’s health-care system after their family doctors either dropped them as patients or threatened to after they sought urgent care elsewhere.
An Ottawa pizzeria is being recognized as one of the top 20 deep-dish pizzas in the world.
Amazon's paid subscription service provides free delivery for online shopping across Canada except for remote locations, the company said in an email. While customers in Iqaluit qualify for the offer, all other communities in Nunavut are excluded.
The fire burning near Fort McMurray grew from 25 hectares to 5,500 hectares over the weekend.
Russia’s President Vladimir Putin began a Cabinet shakeup on Sunday, proposing the replacement of Sergei Shoigu as defence minister as he begins his fifth term in office.
Police are searching for a male suspect after a man was “slashed in neck” on Sunday morning in downtown Toronto and died.
There were some scary moments for several people on a northern Ontario highway caught on video Thursday after a chain reaction following a truck fire.
Health Canada announced various product recalls this week, including electric adapters, armchairs, cannabis edibles and vehicle components.
English, history, entertainment, math and geography: high school trivia teams could be quizzed on any of it when they compete at the Reach for the Top Nationals in Ottawa in June.
An Ottawa pizzeria is being recognized as one of the top 20 deep-dish pizzas in the world.
A family of fifth generation farmers from Ituna, Sask. are trying to find answers after discovering several strange objects lying on their land.
A Listowel, Ont. man, drafted by the Hamilton Tigercats last week, is also getting looks from the NFL, despite only playing 27 games of football in his life.
The threat of zebra mussels has prompted the federal government to temporarily ban watercraft from a Manitoba lake popular with tourists.
A small Ajax dessert shop that recently received a glowing review from celebrity food critic Keith Lee is being forced to move after a zoning complaint was made following the social media influencer’s visit last month.
The Canada Science and Technology Museum is inviting visitors to explore their poop. A new exhibition opens at the Ottawa museum on Friday called, 'Oh Crap! Rethinking human waste.'
The Regina Police Service says it is the first in Saskatchewan and possibly Canada to implement new technology in its detention facility that will offer real-time monitoring of detainees’ vital health metrics.
Just as she had feared, a restaurant owner from eastern Quebec who visited Montreal had her SUV stolen, but says it was all thanks to the kindness of strangers on the internet — not the police — that she got it back.