The San Diego Zoo is one of the organizations the National Rifle Association plans to target as part of its campaign to save lead ammunition.

The Huffington Post reported Monday that the gun lobby had created HuntforTruth.org as part of its effort to block regulations on the use lead bullets. The website lists The Peregrine Fund, Ventana Wildlife Society, San Diego Zoo, California Condor Recovery Team, Raptor Education Group, Center for Biological Diversity, and Natural Resources Defense Council as non-governmental organizations it plans to “expose.”

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A coalition of groups, led by the Center for Biological Diversity, urged the Environmental Protection Agency last year to ban hunters from using lead ammunition because of its effects on eagles, condors, swans and other birds. The National Park Service says that “lead poisoning is the biggest threat facing the successful recovery of the California condor.” California lawmakers are currently considering legislation, AB 711, that would prohibit the use of all lead ammunition for hunting.

“Self-proclaimed environmental organizations are pushing to prohibit the use of traditional lead ammunition in hunting and recreational shooting,” the NRA said Friday in a news release. “These radical groups are now going so far as to claim that eating wild game taken with lead ammunition is a serious health risk to hunters and their families.”

The HuntForTruth.org campaign also plans to “expose” government agencies like the Los Angeles Zoo, along with researchers and other individuals.

“All hunters and recreational shooters need to learn the real truth behind the anti-lead ammunition proponents’ agenda to ban lead ammunition, not only in battleground states like California, but everywhere in the United States. Anti-lead ammunition groups will not rest until all lead ammunition, and ultimately hunting, is banned,” the NRA added.

[Image via Wikimedia Commons user Johntex, Creative Commons licensed]