ABSTRACT
This chapter looks at chemical poisoning as a determinant of avian and mammal health, distribution and numbers globally. The ecology of wildlife is increasingly affected by the chemical changes resulting from industrial production and the consequences for environments and living organisms. Eagles are particularly vulnerable to such chemical intrusions into the environment, because they sit at the top of the food chain and chemical pollutants tend to migrate up the food chain. Other raptors need to be studied as well, as they may prey on some of the same species as eagles and may be more numerous and easier to study than the rarer, more distant eagles. Raptors and waterbirds at the top and lower levels of the food chain are vulnerable to the chemicals such as heavy metals (a metal of relatively high density or atomic weight) ingested by prey species due to the processes of concentration and accumulation, both indirectly (e.g. lead from bullets fired at prey species, which are consumed by the predators, or the pollution of prey species foods from industrial pollutants) and deliberately (e.g. human poisoning of prey species carcasses to eliminate predators).
