Nearly 50 years ago, the toxic pesticide DDT was banned, rescuing bald eagles from the brink of extinction. But another manmade poison is still out there wreaking havoc.

Eagles are skilled scavengers, which means they sometimes clean carcasses left by hunters. In doing so, they can eat bits of lead shot and bullets. Once lead is absorbed from a bird’s digestive tract, it causes problems ranging from weakness and blindness to paralysis and death.

Only California is phasing out the use of lead ammunition at the state level. Federally, a similar order signed previously has been reversed.

That leaves the ball in the hunters’ court. One option is to use lead-free ammunition. The other is to clean up all remains of hunted animals. A lead particle as small as a grain of rice can fell a bald eagle in three days, so it’s a tall order. But nature deserves nothing less.