SESPE CONDOR SANCTUARY : 6 Chicks Readied for Release in December

Six more captive-bred California condor chicks will be released in rugged Ventura County backcountry in December, bringing the endangered bird’s population in the wild to eight, officials said Friday.

Biologists will transfer four females and two males hatched in the Los Angeles Zoo to a man-made cave with a netted outdoor enclosure in the Sespe Condor Sanctuary on Oct. 21, said Robert Mesta, Condor Recovery Team coordinator with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service.

Biologists will closely monitor the young vultures for several weeks before their release while they become accustomed to their new environment, Mesta said. “We’re really encouraged because we thought we would have only four birds to release,” he said.

Twelve chicks were hatched in the zoo’s condor recovery program this spring. By the October transfer date, half of them will be at least 6 months old, considered the optimum age for introduction to the wild, Mesta said.

If the sextet seem to be adapting well, the net will be raised and the birds will be freed the first week in December, Mesta said.

“We want to make sure that the youngest bird is ready to go,” he said.

The condors will join two other California condors and a pair of Andean condors released into the sanctuary in January. Xewe (pronounced ga-wee), a female California condor, and Chocuyens (cho-koo-yenz), a male, made biological history as the first of their species allowed to return to the wild since 1987.

They have fared well since their release and spend most of their time roaming remote areas of the Los Padres National Forest far from civilization, Mesta said. Biologists believe the older birds will act as guides for the fledglings, he said.

All of the California condor chicks have Chumash names because the Indian tribe that once populated the Ventura County area considers the breed sacred. The four females being transferred are Haku (pronounced ha-coo), Pitahsi (pi-tah-she), Hutash (who-tosh), and Koyo (ko-yoa). The males are Sqap (ssh-kap) and Niko (knee-co).

Five years ago, biologists captured the last of the soaring birds and placed them in captive breeding programs at the Los Angeles Zoo and the San Diego Wild Animal Park. The breed’s success in reproducing in captivity enabled biologists to reintroduce them to the wild this year, three years ahead of schedule.

The $15-million breeding program has increased the population from 27 in 1987 to 64 today, Mesta said.