Bill Giving $1.5 Million for Condors Is Approved

The state’s commitment to preserving the California condor would be strengthened under legislation approved in the Assembly Friday and sent to Gov. George Deukmejian.

The bill, by Assemblywoman Lucy Killea (D-San Diego), provides $1.5 million from the state Environmental License Plate fund to the condor preservation project.

The San Diego and Los Angeles zoos would divide $1 million of the grant for their programs designed to breed the endangered condors in captivity for eventual release into the wild.

Deukmejian has taken no position on the bill. Cliff Allenby, deputy director of the Department of Finance, said his department opposed the legislation when it called for the money to be paid from the state general operating budget but had no position as of Friday, after amendments changed the source of the money to the fund raised from the sale of personalized license plates.

Killea said her bill would allow the state to pick up the preservation program where the federal government leaves off.

“The federal government has been working on preserving the birds in the wild,” Killea said. “They’ve pursued that to the bitter end. They’re not as interested in the captive breeding program and returning the birds to the wild. That’s why the state had to step in.”

At present, there are 24 California condors in captivity--12 at the San Diego Zoo and 12 at the Los Angeles Zoo. Most were raised from eggs taken from mating couples in the wild. Zoologists hope to breed sufficient numbers of condors at the zoos in order to reintroduce them in the wild in three to five years.

Three male condors remain in the wild, roaming over an 11-million-acre area about 50 miles northwest of Los Angeles, including the 53,000-acre Sespe sanctuary near Ojai. Federal and state conservation officials expect to capture the remaining three birds sometime this fall because their safety from poachers and lead poisoning cannot be guaranteed any longer.

Federal officials have promised to preserve the Sespe sanctuary and to buy additional adjoining acreage considered critical to a successful release program even if all living condors are placed temporarily into the two zoos.

Art Risser, general manager of the San Diego Zoo, said the zoo would use its share of the money to purchase incubators and expand its breeding facility at the Wild Animal Park in San Pasqual. The bill would be an important step in strengthening the state’s commitment to saving the species, he said. The state budgeted $270,000 from the Environmental License Plate fund for the program this year.

“Since the bird is a California resource that carries the state’s name, the state ought to play a larger role,” Risser said.

The bill requires the two zoos to submit biannual reports to the state describing progress made in the breeding and release programs. The Department of Fish and Game would be required to submit an annual report to the Legislature on the project.

The bill was approved in the Assembly Friday without debate on a vote of 56-15. The Senate passed the legislation Thursday by a vote of 28-6.

Times staff writer David Smollar in San Diego contributed to this story.