20 million birds and other animals die annually after ingesting lead left behind by hunters

In March, conservationists cried foul when new U.S. Secretary of the Interior Ryan Zinke overturned an Obama-administration ban on using lead ammunition or fishing tackle on federal lands. Lead is toxic to the neurological systems of animals that ingest it, killing millions each year. Though lead’s poisonous effects on wildlife have been known for more than a century, eliminating it from nature continues to be an uphill battle.