Contacts
U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service: Bronwyn Davey, Greg Austin, or Marc Weitzel, (805) 644-5185
Los Angeles Zoo: Judy Shay (323) 644-4272
Zoological Society of San Diego: Christina Simmons or Paul Garcia, (619) 685-3291
For the third time this year a California condor chick has hatched in the wild. The inside of the nest cave is deep and obscured by bushes so biologists are unable to see the chick. However, increased activity by both parents at the nest indicate that the egg hatched on Tuesday May 28 . The nest is adjacent to the Sespe Condor Sanctuary of the Los Padres National Forest in the rugged back country of California’s Ventura County.
Service and Zoological Society of San Diego biologists have been monitoring the nest for the last eight weeks. The chick’s parents were captive-reared at the Los Angeles Zoo, are eight years old, and were released into the wild 1n 1995.
In nearby canyons, two other condor pairs are successfully brooding chicks. The oldest chick is now seven weeks old, it is the first chick in 18 years to hatch from an egg laid in the wild. The other chick is nearly three weeks old. Another active condor nest in the Grand Canyon, Arizona may also have a chick.
There are 70 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,
visit our home page at http://www.fws.gov
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