Condor No. 336 died of lead poisoning in September despite the efforts of wildlife biologists to save the 4-year-old bird. The loss of this bird to lead poisoning is tragic as she was just about to reach breeding age. The loss of even one California condor, when the population is just a little more than 330 birds, is devastating to the California Condor Recovery Program.
Although two birds were lost during the summer wildfires in Big Sur, California, the rest of the birds survived and are being closely monitored by biologists with the Ventana Wildlife Society.
When people hear about California condors at a captive breeding facility, they understandably assume that all birds there are involved in breeding pairs, or are chicks waiting to be released to the wild. In actuality, one of the most important roles a captive condor can play is the job of mentor.
Like the other ten California condor eggs laid this season, egg #0810 was pulled to artificial incubation so its progress could be closely monitored. On day 8 of incubation, the signs of a possible embryo malposition (upside-down, opposite of what is normal) were noted in the records.
Exciting times with the Wild Animal Park’s condor conservation program! This year’s chicks are getting bigger and stronger, and the people doing the toughest work now are those rebuilding our burnt down facility. It took some time to get all the insurance issues and clean up taken care of, but since the construction started it has been going a thousand miles per hour.
Click here for part I.
On our second day in Big Sur, Calif. we traveled to the Ventana Wildlife Society’s base camp to meet the staff and see the damage from the summer wildfires. As we changed gears into 4×4, we began to see veins of vegetation surrounded by scorched earth or ash everywhere. How did the fire decide to burn this section but not the next? It moved like a river, meandering through the hillsides. Even in August, there was still ash several inches deep.
It has been quite surreal and a nightmarish déjà vu for keepers here at the Wild Animal Park to see all that our Condor Partners from the Ventana Wildlife Society have been through in the last couple of months because of the Basin Fire in the Big Sur area.
It seems like it was just yesterday that we were walking through our incinerated Condor Facility after the Witch Creek fire, wondering a million and one “What Ifs” while at the same time feeling immensely thankful that were we able to get all our birds out in time. (more…)
Is that a condor?
After weeks of waiting for the right moment, I organized a trip to the Ventana Wildlife Society’s condor sanctuary with a photographer, videographer, and the San Diego Zoo’s Wild Animal Park curator of birds, Michael Mace. I wanted to see for myself the damage caused by the Big Sur wildfires in June, while Michael wanted to hand-deliver a $10,000 check from the San Diego Zoo’s California Condor Fire Relief fund to the Ventana Wildlife Society.
Two condors, a 6 year old and a 3 year old, are now presumed dead and haven’t been seen since the fire. We had picked up radio signals for one of these birds after the fire but now believe these were not actually from the radio transmitter on the bird and likely from some interference on the same channel. We are at least fortunate that all biologists and captive condors were safely evacuated before the fire burned the sanctuary.
After listening to the story of how the condors in the nearby holding pens were rescued, we began a descent out of the mountains, hoping to find the now irritatingly elusive condors. Time and time again we spotted turkey vultures, and I was giving up hope. On one patch of scenic mountainside, I could see the ocean. I was admiring the view when I saw two large black birds. I figured they were turkey vultures, but I pointed them out to the others just in case. I was right. But since we had stopped, we got off the cars to look around. And there below us were four California condors flying near the coastline. Yes!
We arrived in Monterey on Tuesday, and after lunch we headed south on the picturesque Cabrillo Highway to Big Sur. I saw billows of white clouds cascading over the ocean like waves, while sea birds dove into the blue ocean water. The breeze was cool and refreshing. We were excited. It would be the first time I would see California condors free-flying in, get this–California! I’ve had the pleasure of seeing this majestic bird flying in Baja California, Mexico, on a number of occasions, but not in my own backyard! Shea, the videographer, had never seen condors free-flying; today I expected would be her first.
As we continued our drive, we spotted a large black bird in the distance. Could it be? Get the binoculars! Darn. It was the one bird most often confused with a California condor, the turkey vulture. As we meandered past the scenic highway, the fire’s damage became apparent. Hillsides were charred and trees were dry and black. A group of large birds was perched on a pine tree. Condors are gregarious and are usually found in groups, so this is a good sign. Sigh. Again, we found them to be turkey vultures—or TVs as I affectionately began to call them. Time and time again we spotted TVs.