To all,
Here’s a tiny look at what happened in the California Condor Recovery Program during 2009.
The year began with a total population of 321 condors and ended with an increase of 21 birds for a total population of 350.

In an amazing display of cooperative effort on the part of many organizations and staff, here are where those 350 birds were located. 162 were in captivity at 7 zoos. Some were in captive breeding facilities and others on display. The zoos involved with captive breeding are: Los Angeles, San Diego Wild Animal Park, World Center for Birds of Prey in Boise (run by the Peregrine Fund), and the Oregon Zoo. Zoos that have condors on display are: San Diego Wild Animal Park & San Diego Zoo, Chapultepec Zoo in Mexico City, and our own Santa Barbara Zoo. Four immatures and 1 adult are now on display at SBZ.

Condors flying in the wild are 65 in Arizona, 18 in Baja California and 95 in the Southern California complex. The last group is composed of 34 birds at Hopper Mountain & Bitter Creek National Wildlife Refuges run by USFWS, 20 in the Big Sur area managed by the Ventana Wildlife Society and 25 released at Pinnacles National Monument under the auspices of the National Park Service.

There are now 16 wild fledged condors in Southern California: 9 in Hopper NWR, 6 in Big Sur and 1 (brand new last year) at Pinnacles and 10 in Arizona. None of the 3 eggs laid in Baja have made it to
fledging.

21 birds died: several from predation by coyotes, one by strangulation (a condor twisted a rope, left behind by a climber, into a noose and hung himself), several from lead poisoning but many
from unknown causes.

A new group, Friends of the California Condor - Wild and Free was formed last year. The group is composed of individuals who assist with field work, education and fund raising. One person put
out 1 newsletter in July 2009. I have attached it to this message for those who would like to learn more about the events at Hopper NWR.

The fate of the nests mentioned in the newsletter is as follows: HC 09 - chick fledged and is doing well, AB 09 - chick fledged as is doing well, DG 09 - chick died after ingesting too much trash, KR 09 - chick disappeared from nest cavity when no one was there to monitor the nest. Several other nest failed prior to the newsletter’s publication. They were HB 09 where an egg was seen shortly after laying but disappeared several days later (raven predation?) and TC 09 where a bear was seen entering the nest cave. When FWS staff arrived a few days later there was no chick to be
found (bear predation?).

So now a new year has begun and there are eggs at LAZ & SDWAP and 1 egg at Hopper by the same pair (HB) that lost the egg last year.

Hope you enjoyed the update,
Jan