Keep the condor ark afloat

In the early 1800s, California condors ranged from British Columbia to Baja California. We don’t know when a California condor was last sighted in Orange County, but we’ll bet not since cattle ranching gave way to farming. California condors haven’t flown free over San Diego County since 1910, and until just this year, they hadn’t been seen in Baja since the early 1940s.

California condors nearly went extinct. By 1967, they were on the endangered species list, with only 50 to 60 birds left in a dwindling population in central and southern California. By 1985, there were only nine condors left in the wild. The condors needed Noah and his ark to save them.

As the wild population plummeted to near zero, a captive breeding program began. A joint undertaking of the Zoological Society of San Diego and its Center for Conservation and Research for Endangered Species, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, the Los Angeles Zoo, the Peregrine Fund and several other agencies came to the rescue of the condors. With funding from the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, a “condorminium” was built at the San Diego Wild Animal Park to rear condors in captivity.

At first, eggs were brought in from the wild for incubation. When their sole egg was removed from the nest, a wild condor pair would build a second nest several miles away and produce another egg. This technique doubled the number of condors that hatched each year.

But the wild condor population continued to plummet due to pesticides and lead bullets in the carcasses they fed upon, collision with power lines and other factors. Condors needed to be “brought in from the cold” if they were to survive.

In 1987, biologists captured the last wild condor, male #AC-9, and put him into a captive breeding program along with the rest of the world’s California condors. Although the original breeding stock numbered only 14 individuals, the breeding program at the San Diego Wild Animal Park and Los Angeles Zoo worked. There are now 274 California condors, with 127 of them living in the wild. The breeding program has expanded to the Oregon Zoo with the intention of establishing a northern population that will range from Oregon into northern California.

Condors have been released at two sites in the California mountains between Big Sur and Ventura, in Arizona’s Vermilion Cliffs near the Grand Canyon, and, most recently, in Baja California. Condor AC-9 was released in Ventura County in 2002; he bred in the wild last year.

The goal of this reintroduction program is one population in Arizona, and a second population that will stretch from Oregon to Baja. This goal may be reached sooner than researchers believed. Condors from Ventura County have been sighted as close to us as the San Bernardino Mountains. Although the first condors in the Baja population were released only early this year, one group has already roamed to within 15 miles of the border. At the rate the condors are expanding their range, we may be able to see them over Orange County in just a few years. Keep your eyes open for them.

With a wingspan of nine to 10 feet, an adult condor is easy to distinguish from its smaller relative, the turkey vulture. An adult condor has a large, white triangle on the underside of each wing near the leading edge, while the trailing edge of the wing is black. On a turkey vulture, the forewing is black and the trailing edge appears gray. Another good clue is that all condors have a really big tag placed on each wing with a visible letter and number on it. The color of the tag tells researchers what year the condor was hatched.

Although most condors are still reared in zoos, they also are reproducing in the wild. This return from the brink of extinction was neither easy nor cheap. Without a captive breeding program, plus protection afforded them by the Endangered Species Act, California condors would undoubtedly be extinct by now.

Condors are still highly endangered, and the loss ate in the wild is high. Intervention is still necessary in this greatly at-risk species. Condors are re-trapped regularly for blood work and X-rays. The birds often undergo surgery for removal of lead pellets or receive chelation therapy for removal of lead in the blood.

Keeping the condor ark afloat takes a whale of a lot of money. Most of it comes from people like us. This year ask yourself if Aunt Sue really wants another bottle of perfume for Christmas or if niece Kimberly really needs another blouse. Instead, consider making donations in their names to the Center for Conservation and Research for Endangered Species or the Zoological Society of San Diego. Your donations help support the good work of bringing species back from the brink of extinction.

If you must buy someone a tangible gift, visit www.shopzoo.com. You’ll find a host of zoo-themed gifts. At the very least, join the Zoological Society of San Diego. With an annual membership, you’ll get free admission and a lot of perks. The more you visit our Southern California zoos, the more you’ll learn about the world’s wildlife. The more you know, the more you’ll realize that an ark is desperately needed if we are to preserve biodiversity and the world’s dwindling wildlife. That ark needs each one of us to help it sail into the future.

* VIC LEIPZIG and LOU MURRAY are Huntington Beach residents and environmentalists. They can be reached at vicleipzig@aol.com.

20051110gzerw1ke(LA)