Condor to Return to Sespe Sanctuary

After 14 years in captivity, a wild-born female California condor will be returned to the Sespe Condor Sanctuary north of Fillmore, free to soar over her home territory once again, biologists said Monday.

The bird, called Adult Condor No. 8, will be released March 14 with three juvenile condors raised in the Los Angeles Zoo, said Greg Austin, deputy project leader of the federal Condor Recovery Plan. Biologists hope that AC-8 will shepherd the youngsters around the mountain ranges she wandered years ago, helping them to learn necessary skills for survival in the wild.

AC-8 was a good candidate, because she is believed to be past breeding age and is familiar with the territory, Austin said. The March release marks both the first time a wild condor taken into captivity is being freed and the return of the Sespe Condor Sanctuary as a release site, Austin said.

Biologists removed condors from the area in 1994 after five died from collisions with power poles near Fillmore, Piru and other developed areas. The birds were moved to Lion Canyon in the Santa Barbara County back country.

Since then, three female condors have flown back to the Sespe range on their own and have shown no inclination to return to Santa Barbara, Austin said. Meanwhile, captive birds in a breeding program at the Los Angeles Zoo are being trained to avoid power poles.

Captive condors get a light electrical shock whenever they land on mock poles set up at the zoo and quickly learn to stay away, Austin said.

“It’s uncomfortable enough for them to stay off the poles,” he said.

The three juvenile birds are about 10 months old and have spent the last several months in a flight pen at the zoo with AC-8 and other adult birds. They will be transported to a holding facility at the Sespe Condor Sanctuary about a week before the release to give them time to get used to their new surroundings, Austin said.

Biologists are attempting to establish two geographically separate condor populations, in California and Arizona. The goal is to eliminate the threat of extinction by releasing 150 birds in each state, with at least 15 breeding pairs.

There are 16 birds in the wild in California and 26 in Arizona near the Grand Canyon, Austin said.