Condors

It was obvious by the 1950s that California condors were in danger of extinction. In 1978, there were only about 30 birds left in the wild, and seven years later only nine. At that time, all wild California condors were captured by the Fish and Wildlife Service and taken to the San Diego Wild Animal Park and the Los Angeles Zoo, where several other condors were already in residence. The zoos began a captive breeding program for the California condor, and by 1996, 103 individuals were alive. The population recovery has been sufficient to allow some birds to be introduced back into the wild.

To test ideas about how best to return condors to the wild, several Andean condors were brought to the United States and released in a national forest. It quickly became apparent that there were too many human activities and influences in the area for the condors to be reintroduced successfully. They had to be released farther from civilization. To this end, the Sespe Condor Sanctuary was acquired by the Fish and Wildlife Service as a wilderness habitat for these endangered birds. First two, then several additional California condors were released to this area. When several birds were poisoned by bullets in carrion they ate, it became clear that the reintroduced birds would have to be provided with safe food until their numbers increased. In late 1998, 22 condors were in the wild in southern California and 14 in Arizona. The ultimate goal is to establish at least two separate populations of more than 150 birds each.

The California condor has received a reprieve from extinction, but its survival depends on the continuation of intensive management efforts and the conservation of sufficient habitat to sustain a viable breeding population.