Only Calif. Condor Egg of Season Found Broken Near Nest
The only California condor egg produced in the wild this season was found destroyed beneath its nest in a rugged area of Ventura County, biologists said today.
A team of researchers from the Condor Research Center in Ventura had planned to retrieve the egg and take it to the San Diego Wild Animal Park for artificial incubation.
But when they arrived at the nest site, they found the egg in bits and pieces, said Jesse Grantham, a staff biologist for the National Audubon Society at the research center.
Conditions at the scene indicate that the egg was either devoured by ravens or accidentally crushed by its parents.
The discovery was another setback in the effort to save the critically endangered bird. Only five condors are known to exist in the wild.
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