Laying of Third Egg by a Condor Seen as Key Step

Wildlife officials Friday heralded the laying of yet another California condor egg in captivity--the third in a week--and proclaimed the newest egg especially significant because it was laid by a condor that itself was hatched in captivity and has never known the wild.

“This is a behavioral milestone,” said Tom Hanscom, spokesman for the San Diego Wild Animal Park, which is home to 15 of the 28 California condors now in captivity. The rest live at the Los Angeles Zoo, and none are believed still in the wild.

But joy over the birth was tempered by the death a young Andean condor. Seven Andean condors, which are not endangered, were released in December into the Hopper Mountain National Wildlife Refuge as part of a program to see how birds raised in captivity adapt to the wild. An eighth bird died en route.

“We’re all saddened by the death, but it’s an important bit of data,” said Joe Dowhan, coordinator of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service’s recovery program in Ventura. A necropsy was scheduled over the weekend to determine the cause of death.

The new egg, laid by a condor named Almiyi, who herself was hatched in captivity, gave officials hope for the future of the species.

“We now know that a condor who has only known a captive life is capable of reproducing, and that will have to be the case if we hope to keep the species alive,” Hanscom said.

The newest egg was laid between dusk Thursday and dawn Friday in the Wild Animal Park’s so-called “condorminium” away from public view, Hanscom said. Gestation lasts 55 to 60 days, but officials hope to determine within four to 10 days whether the egg is fertile.

Almiyi’s breeding partner was Paxa, which was born in the wild in 1981 and captured in 1982.