BirdLife South Africa, in collaboration with the universities of the Witwatersrand and Johannesburg, has published ground‐breaking research linking lead poisoning in Critically Endangered White‐backed Vulture chicks to lead‐based ammunition. The study, funded by the Isdell Family Foundation and the Mary Oppenheimer and Daughters Foundation, used cutting‐edged research to quantify the isotopic signatures of lead found in blood samples sourced from chicks at Dronfield Nature Reserve. This reserve, which is located close to Kimberley in the Northern Cape Province, is one of the most important White‐backed Vulture breeding colonies in South Africa. "The results of the study allowed us to exclude several potential sources of lead poisoning in the vulture chicks, including lead from mining, industrial activity, coal, air, water and soil, as well as lead they may have persisted in the environment from leaded fuel (phased out in 2006)," says Linda van den Heever, Vulture Project Manager at BirdLife South Africa.