Condor reintroduction is a real-life manifestation of our cultural commitment to restore and protect the planet for future generations," tribal Chairman Joseph L. "For countless generations, the Yurok people have upheld a sacred responsibility to maintain balance in the natural world.
The birds can live for 60 years and fly vast distances in search of carrion, so their range could extend into several states.įederal and local fish and wildlife agencies are involved in the restoration project headed by the Yurok tribe, which traditionally has considered the California condor a sacred animal and has been working for years to return the species to the tribe's ancestral territory. The scavenger was once widespread but had virtually disappeared by the 1970s because of poaching, lead poisoning from eating animals shot by hunters and destruction of its habitat. The California condor is the largest native North American bird, with a wingspan of nearly 10 feet. Taking flightĬondors were last spotted in the park area around 1892, authorities said. "They just jumped up and took flight off into the distance," Tiana Williams-Claussen, wildlife director for the region's Yurok tribe, said in a webcast. After a few minutes of warily eyeing the opening, the birds stepped one by one through the opening, spread their giant wings and took off. The two male condors were moved into staging area at late morning and a remotely controlled gate was opened. Heather Paul, California Condor (Gymnogyps californianus), CC Attribution-NoDerivs 2.Two captive-bred birds were released from a pen in Redwood National Park, about an hour's drive south of the Oregon border, under a project aimed at restoring the giant vultures to their historic habitat in the Pacific Northwest. Since 1992, condors have been reintroduced into the wild in California and Arizona, and the combined total of condors in the wild and in captivity is near 500. This resulted in an increased the population growth rate, and lead to a larger and more stable captive population.
The confiscated eggs could then be incubated until hatching and the chicks raised by people using puppet-shaped condor heads to mimic the parents. However, new research led to a new technique in condor captive breeding: removing eggs immediately after they were laid typically resulted the laying of a second egg. Although the birds successfully reproduced in captivity, the captive population grew slowly because condors cannot reproduce until they are at least six years old and because an egg is produced about every other year. In 1982, only 22 individuals remained, and soon after all wild condors were captured in order to protect them and to use them in a captive breeding program. Although the population was once large, extending down the Pacific coast from British Columbia through California, habitat destruction and DDT poisoning resulted in massive population declines. To get to this size, the condor relies on its ability to scavenge food, consuming large and already dead animals including deer, cattle, and elk. Condors have very an enormous wingspan – about 9.5 feet, and weigh about 20 pounds when fully grown. The California condor is a very large vulture found in the western US.
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