A decision was expected on the Fourth of July, but it will be delayed until the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service figures out how they will manage the species once it is taken off the list. Even if the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service removes the bald eagle from the threatened and endangered species list, it will still be protected by the Migratory Bird Treaty Act and the Bald and Golden Eagle Protection Act. Many countries followed suit, although DDT is still used in some parts of the world.
Lead poisoning caused by ingesting shot is another hazard to the bald eagle.
The United States banned the use of lead shot for waterfowl hunting in 1991, but Canada did not issue a nationwide ban until 1997. Reintroduction programs have helped to bring the bald eagle back to areas from which they had disappeared, but there continues to be a problem. As the total numbers decline, the death of an individual eagle assumes an increasing seriousness in relation to the remaining population. Today's eagles survive in a chamber of horrors. The hunting parent lifts a sick fish from the water and with it carries along to the nest a new portion of chemical insecticides.