Governor Gets Bill to Boost Condor Aid
The Assembly on Monday approved and sent to Gov. George Deukmejian legislation that would boost the San Diego Zoo’s effort to save the endangered California condor.
The bill, by Assemblywoman Lucy Killea (D-San Diego), would allocate $250,000 to the zoo’s condor program from the California Environmental License Plate Fund, which gets its money from the fees charged to car owners who request personalized license plates.
Another $250,000 would go to the Los Angeles Zoo.
The two zoos would use the money to complete construction this summer of buildings to house the condors before the beginning of the birds’ breeding season.
The condor, North America’s largest land bird, once ranged from British Columbia to Baja California. But the bird’s population in the wild steadily declined until zoo and state and federal game officials decided to capture the last remaining birds in an effort to breed a larger population, then release the birds into the wild.
The last wild condor was captured in April, 1987, and taken to the San Diego Wild Animal Park near Escondido.
Tom Beermann, a spokesman for Deukmejian, said the governor has no position on Killea’s bill. Deukmejian vetoed similar legislation carried by Killea in 1986.
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