The birds set to try out their wings are A6 and A7, the last of the four in a second cohort of condors that arrived in mid-August.
California condor wingspan free#
If all goes as planned, two more California condors will be taking a first flight into the wild Wednesday, bringing to eight the number of the endangered birds now flying free over the North Coast as part of a Yurok Tribe-led effort to bring back the bird they know as prey-go-neesh to its former territory.
A7, (right) a young female that recently recovered from minor surgery, is up for release Nov. However, that same year, a dozen adults and two chicks died when a wildfire set by an arsonist ravaged their territory on the Big Sur coast. Two years ago, California condors were spotted in Sequoia National Park, in California's Sierra Nevada, for the first time in nearly 50 years. The total population now numbers more than 500 birds in captivity and in the wild. That flock has been expanding its range while other condors now occupy parts of California's Central Coast, Arizona, Utah and Baja California, Mexico. In the early 1980s, all 22 condors remaining in the wild were trapped and brought into a captive-breeding program that began releasing the giant vultures into Southern California's Los Padres National Forest in 1992. Two were hatched at the Oregon Zoo and two at the Peregrine Fund's World Center for Birds of Prey in Idaho. The condors, including one female and three males, are between 2 and 4 years old. Two more condors were set to be released later - after biologists determine that the two birds who took to the skies Tuesday have displayed appropriate behavior, authorities said. James said in a statement.Ī juvenile California condor flies from a shelf to a branch in the condor reintroduction pen of the Redwood National Park near Orick, Calif., on April 12.Ĭarlos Avila Gonzalez / San Francisco Chronicle via AP, File Condor reintroduction is a real-life manifestation of our cultural commitment to restore and protect the planet for future generations," tribal Chairman Joseph L. "For countless generations, the Yurok people have upheld a sacred responsibility to maintain balance in the natural world. The birds can live for 60 years and fly vast distances in search of carrion, so their range could extend into several states.įederal and local fish and wildlife agencies are involved in the restoration project headed by the Yurok tribe, which traditionally has considered the California condor a sacred animal and has been working for years to return the species to the tribe's ancestral territory. The scavenger was once widespread but had virtually disappeared by the 1970s because of poaching, lead poisoning from eating animals shot by hunters and destruction of its habitat. The California condor is the largest native North American bird, with a wingspan of nearly 10 feet. Taking flightĬondors were last spotted in the park area around 1892, authorities said. "They just jumped up and took flight off into the distance," Tiana Williams-Claussen, wildlife director for the region's Yurok tribe, said in a webcast. After a few minutes of warily eyeing the opening, the birds stepped one by one through the opening, spread their giant wings and took off. The two male condors were moved into staging area at late morning and a remotely controlled gate was opened. 
Two captive-bred birds were released from a pen in Redwood National Park, about an hour's drive south of the Oregon border, under a project aimed at restoring the giant vultures to their historic habitat in the Pacific Northwest.
0 kommentar(er)
