A Case of Lead Poisoning in Wild Mallard

Abstract

dead wild mallard was found on a bank in Ikoino-Mori located in Komatsu-shi in November 1991. At necropsy and X-ray examination, 144 spent lead shots were recovered from its gizzard. The lead levels of the liver, kidney and skeletal muscle of the bird exceeded the probable toxic level for a normal mallard. These findings indicated that the bird might have succumbed to lead poisoning. To confirm this, another mallard duck was forced to eat 100 lead shots. The bird showed nervous signs and green diarrhea, and died after 6 days. The necropsy findings and the lead levels of the tissues of the bird were compared with those of the wild mallard.