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Updated: Feb 12, 2026

The Tail Suspension Test
Published on: January 28, 2012
Lead poisoning and other human-related factors cause significant mortality in white-tailed eagles
Marja Isomursu1, Juhani Koivusaari2, Torsten Stjernberg3
1Wild and Aquatic Animal Pathology Section, Veterinary Bacteriology and Pathology Research Unit, Finnish Food Safety Authority Evira, Elektroniikkatie 3, 90590, Oulu, Finland. marja.isomursu@evira.fi.
Abstract:
The white-tailed eagle (Haliaeetus albicilla) suffered a severe population decline due to environmental pollutants in the Baltic Sea area ca. 50 years ago but has since been recovering. The main threats for the white-tailed eagle in Finland are now often related to human activities. We examined the human impact on the white-tailed eagle by determining mortality factors of 123 carcasses collected during 2000-2014. Routine necropsy with chemical analyses for lead and mercury were done on all carcasses. We found human-related factors accounting for 60% of the causes of death. The most important of these was lead poisoning (31% of all cases) followed by human-related accidents (e.g. electric power lines and traffic) (24%). The temporal and regional patterns of occurrence of lead poisonings suggested spent lead ammunition as the source. Lead shot was found in the gizzards of some lead-poisoned birds. Scavenging behaviour exposes the white-tailed eagle to lead from spent ammunition.
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