Condors and other birds that feed off dead animals are dying of lead poisoning. Hunters have been urged to switch to non-lead bullets, but they say the copper alternative is not as efficient and is more expensive. Hunters say they use lead bullets because that's mostly what's available.

The condor's biggest enemy is the lead that is left behind from a hunter's bullet.

Over the last two decades in California and Arizona, at least nine Californian condors have died from lead poisoning, others were treated for high lead levels and three were shot to death.

The California Condor number just 284 today. In 1987, the condor population dwindled down to near-extinction. Only nine of the giant birds existed. Today, with the help of a federal recovery program, the condor population is growing.

The California Department of Fish and Game says it's in the process of reviewing all hunting regulations and will be proposing changes next Spring.