For the second time this year a California condor chick has hatched in the wild. The egg hatched on Saturday, May 11th in a nest in the Sespe Condor Sanctuary of the Los Padres National Forest in the rugged back country of California’s Ventura County. Service biologists have been monitoring the nest for eight weeks. The chick’s parents were captive-reared at the Los Angeles Zoo and San Diego Wild Animal Park, then released into the wild at the age of one several years ago. The male condor #98 is eight years old, and the female # 55 has just turned five, making her one of the youngest known condors to produce a chick.
"These condor chicks are a national treasure" said Interior Secretary Gale Norton, who as an associate solicitor with the department in the 1980s, played a role in removing the last remaining condors from the wild so they could reproduce in captivity and be reintroduced later. "They symbolize the achievements of many partners all dedicated to bring the California condor back from the brink of extinction."
"With the hatching of a second chick in California and possibly three other chicks on the way - another in California and two in Arizona - 2002 will be a year to remember for the condor program" said Steve Thompson, manager of the Service’s California-Nevada Operations Office.
Service Biologist Mike Barth who supervises condor field operations in Southern California watched the hatching. "It was difficult to see into the nest cave, we could just make out a fuzzy white-grey patch next to the male that didn’t have the smooth roundness of an egg and we could tell that the behavior of the male had changed" said Barth, "When the female arrived the next morning, the male took the time to introduce her to the newly hatched chick and both parents seemed extremely focused on taking care of it. It’s an amazing process to witness and a huge step towards the condors’ recovery."
In a nearby nest, another condor pair are successfully brooding a one-month old chick, it is the first chick in 18 years to hatch from an egg laid in the wild. "The chick is just a little football sized butterball" said Wildlife Biologist Mike Stockton. "He is covered in almond colored fluffy down and is very alert and active. The parents are very attentive and one parent is always around to take care of it while the other goes off to feed."
There are 69 condors now living in the wild in California and Arizona, 16 in field pens ready for release and 113 in captivity at the Los Angeles Zoo, San Diego Wild Animal Park and the Peregrine Fund’s World Center for Birds of Prey in Boise, Idaho. The goal of the California Condor Recovery Plan is to establish two geographically separate populations, one in California and the other in Arizona, each with 150 birds and at least 15 breeding pairs.
The largest bird in North America, condors are scavengers that have soared over mountainous areas of California since prehistoric times, but their numbers plummeted in the 20th Century. Condor numbers declined in part due to loss of habitat and food and from shooting, lead poisoning and toxic substances used to poison predators. Condors were listed as an endangered species in 1967, under a law that pre-dated the existing Endangered Species Act. In 1982, the condor population reached its lowest level of 22 birds, prompting biologists to start collecting chicks and eggs for a captive breeding program. By late 1984, only 15 condors remained in the wild. After seven condors died in rapid succession, it was decided to bring the remaining birds in from the wild for the captive breeding program. In 1992, the Recovery Program began releasing California condor back into the wild.
The California Condor Recovery Program is built upon a foundation of private and public partnerships. The focus of the condor recovery effort is the release of captive reared condors to the wild to ultimately establish self-sustaining populations. The U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service is the principal Federal agency responsible for coordinating the conservation of the California condor, working with the Los Padres National Forest, California Department of Fish and game, and several private partners. Private organizations and institutions are not just interested observers, but are active and essential participants in the implementation of the recovery program, contributing personnel, expertise, institutional support, and funding. California condor captive breeding programs are operated at San Diego Wild Animal Park, Los Angeles Zoo, and The Peregrine Fund’s World Center for Birds of Prey. To date, 218 condor chicks have been raised in captive propagation facilities. Release programs in California are managed by Ventana Wilderness Society and U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service Hopper Mountain National Wildlife Refuge; the Arizona release is managed by The Peregrine Fund.
For more information about the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service,
