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California Condor
Update
The Western Foundation has worked
with the California Condor Recovery Program in various capacities
since the early 1980s. Recently (Fall 2005), the WFVZ co-hosted
a 25th anniversary reception for the recovery program with U.S.
Fish & Wildlife Service and the Santa Barbara Audubon Society.
This reception, held at the University of California, Santa
Barbara, was followed by a day-long symposium on California
Condor Research and a long-overdue meeting of the entire team.
Among the attendees was Pedro Nava, Assemblymember, 35th District,
who discussed his legislation to limit the use of lead shot
in the range of the Condor in California, which has been shown
to have a significant impact on the health of California Condors.
In November 2007, Pedro's bill, the Ridley-Tree Act, was successfully
passed!
René Corado, Assemblymember Pedro Nava,
Dr. Linnea Hall, and Noel Snyder
(who has been involved with California Condor research for over 25 years.)
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In August 2007, Drs. Allan Mee and Linnea
Hall finished editing a special publication of the Nuttall
Ornithological Club and the American Ornithological Union.
California Condors in the 21st Century
presents the current status of California Condors in both
wild and captive populations. Drs. Mee and Hall summarized
and edited 13 chapters by the current leading researchers
of condors in North America, and suggested recommendations
for future research and conservation efforts for this
highly imperiled species. This volume is likely to become
the major reference handbook on California Condor biology,
and will act as a blueprint for future conservation efforts
for this species and for other critically endangered bird
species.
The book can be purchased through Buteo Books at
http://www.buteobooks.com/archives/condors.html.
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On 27 and 28 August 2005, the WFVZ hosted a meeting of the
California Condor Recovery Team. The public meeting portion of
the event on August 27th was attended by interested members of
the public as well as representatives from each of the various
organizations involved with restoring the species. These entities
included the San Diego Zoo/Wild Animal Park, Los Angeles Zoo,
Oregon Zoo, Phoenix Zoo, Arizona Department of Game and Fish,
The Peregrine Fund, Ventana Wilderness Society, the Zoological
Society of San Diego, Hopper Mountain National Wildife Refuge
(NWR) Complex, U.C. Santa Cruz Predatory Research Group, and biologists
from Baja California, Mexico. This meeting had special significance
since the full team had not met for 2 years and needed to collaborate
on several key issues. A representative from each managed Condor
population gave a general progress report for the last two years
and reported on population numbers and reproductive efforts. They
also discussed successes and problems unique to each population.
The second part of the event was a closed-door meeting of biologists,
veterinarians, and executives from the key organizations working
on California Condor recovery. Key topics that were discussed
included problems with Condor reproduction, microtrash ingestion,
and feeding site management in the Hopper Mtn. population.
The public meeting portion of the California Condor Recovery
Team
meeting.
There are currently 276 California
Condors in the world (up from less than 22 in the 1980s!), 121
of which are flying wild in Central California, Southern California,
Arizona, and Baja California. Each of these areas is managed
by a different set of organizations, so this meeting gave biologists
a chance to share data and discuss procedures, ensuring that
each Condor population gets the best care and has the best chance
for survival.
California Condor (Gymnogyps californianus)
with
wing-mounted transmitter for tracking its movements.
In June 2005, WFVZ staff also participated
in Condor fieldwork in the Los Padres National Forest. From
July to September, we had the privilege of monitoring AC-2,
a wild-born Condor that was captured in Dec. 1986 (the last
wild-born condor to be brought into captivity) and was entered
into the captive-breeding program at the San Diego Wild Animal
Park, where from 1986 to 2005, he produced several offspring.
In early 2005, it was decided that he needed to go back into
the wild to mentor captive-born condors that had been released
at Hopper Mountain NWR. On 22 June 2005, AC-2 took his first
flight in 19 years over the Bittercreek area (his historic foraging
area)! In July, the WFVZ teamed up with Hopper Mountain NWR
to monitor AC-2’s movements using radiotelemetry. AC-2
used his historic roosting and foraging areas in the Los Padres
National Forest, and we learned a lot about “memory”
in condors from following his movements. Dr. Linnea S. Hall,
Bridget Greuel, and René Corado helped monitor AC-2,
and WFVZ volunteers also attended a special outing where they
learned to use radiotelemetry equipment to track him. Unfortunately,
AC-2 died in late September 2005, possibly from exposure to
lead.
Bridget Greuel using radiotelemetry to track AC-2 over the Cuyama
Valley.
Photo Credits:
Condors feeding at Lion Canyon, August 1996. David Clendenen/U.S.F.W.S.
Team Reception, August 2005. Chrystal Klabunde
Team meeting, August 2005. René Corado
Condor with wing tag, preening. Gary Kramer/U.S.F.W.S.
Bridget tracking AC-2, July 2005. David Finley
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