Condor Is Free to Roam After 15 Years in Protective Custody
Against a majestic panorama of plunging valleys and knife-edged mountains, the last California condor captured in the wild spread his 9-foot wings and soared off a remote cliff in Los Padres National Forest on Wednesday, 15 years after being trapped as part of an ambitious plan to save the species from extinction.
The 22-year-old bird, known as AC9 or Adult Condor 9, initially had problems getting out of the cage holding him and three juvenile condors. The younger birds made it look easy, flying out and over the cliff-face and thrilling the more than 100 observers on a nearby ridge. But two hours later AC9 remained baffled, so biologists shoved him out the door.
In moments, the enormous bird was airborne over his home territory. He sped along the cliffs some 4,000 feet above the green, undulating floor of the Sespe Condor Sanctuary just north of the town of Fillmore. Other condors wheeled and glided nearby, casting black silhouettes against the sun.
“This is the biggest release we have had and the most meaningful,” said Bruce Palmer, who coordinates the $35-million condor program for the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. “We’ve come full circle. We’ve turned the corner in reintroducing these animals to the wild.”
With AC9’s release, there are now a total of 68 California condors in the wild, split among Los Padres National Forest, Big Sur and the Grand Canyon. Another 16 are in field pens and 113 remain in captivity.
For many, the release was an emotional moment, one symbolizing both the success of the condor program and the dangers awaiting North America’s largest birds as they face a world fraught with increasing danger.
John Borneman, who once worked for the National Audubon Society, recalled his mixed feelings when AC9 was taken.
“When he was captured in the wild--the last bird--I closed the door to my office and cried,” he said.
The condor captive breeding program began in 1985. With extinction imminent, condors were taken from the wild, bred in captivity and, starting in 1992, released back into nature.
The goal is to develop condor populations of 150 or more--including 15 breeding pairs--in California and Arizona.
But as the birds are reintroduced to the wild they face new threats. Condors have died from eating bullets, they have been electrocuted on power lines and they have killed their chicks because they lack parenting skills. Last week an adult male condor dipped his head in oil, came back to the nest and smudged his chick. Scientists were initially concerned, but now say neither animal has oil on it.
“AC9 will be less likely to get into trouble in the wild because he’s been there,” predicted Mike Clark, who has taken care of the condor for 13 years as a keeper at the Los Angeles Zoo. “He’s a solid, robust dominant male.”
Biologists hope the bird will be a mentor and role model for the highly imitative, captive-bred condors who have grown up without parents and need to learn crucial survival skills.
“He’s out here for a job,” said Mike Wallace, who heads the Condor Recovery Team from his base at the San Diego Zoo. “Young birds follow the adults.”
Recently, the first condor egg laid and brooded in the wild in 18 years hatched in Los Padres National Forest. Two other condor nests have been found in the area. Both have eggs and one could hatch within two weeks, biologists said.
