HONOLULU -- Each year, thousands of Laysan albatrosses are being killed on Midway Atoll because of lead-based paint peeling off aging buildings on the island, according to the American Bird Conservancy.

Studies have shown that albatross chicks are eating the paint off the buildings, which harms them, conservancy officials said.

When the group brought up the issue to Department of Interior officials, they were told that the new Northwestern Hawaiian Islands Marine National Monument did not have any federal funds dedicated for that purpose, according to conservancy officials.

Department of Interior officials said that the current federal budget for the nation's wildlife refuge system could not be used in the prevention of lead-based paint by Laysan chicks, conservancy officials said.

The American Bird Conservancy said as many as 10,000 Laysan albatross chicks may die each year from being exposed to lead paint chips. That would be equivalent to about 5 percent of chicks hatched on the island.

The Laysan albatross is listed as vulnerable to extinction by the World Conservation Union.