>Let me be clear about the fact that I was never in favor of extinction
>for the California Condor, and I am not in favor of that now.
>On Tue, 14 Nov 1995, Ronald Orenstein wrote:
>>
>> May I suggest that, whatever you think of the program, the jury is still out
>> on this one? Certainly the program has been more successful than some of
>> its detractors predicted. You might want to look at an anthology of
>> anti-program pieces published at the time, called "The Condor Question:
>> Captive or Forever Free?" I don't know what the "right" decision would have
>> been - but I certainly can't side with those who wanted the condor to remain
>> in the wild so it could "die with dignity".
>

Just to be equally clear: I dod not mean to imply that anyone on this list
held the view that the condors should be allowed to die off, but such a view
was clearlyy expressed by some of the contributors to "The Condor Question".
I confess that I am not entirely convinced that there was a need to capture
every last condor - but I wonder how many of te opponents of the program at
the time would have believed the number that have been bred since? Now, of
course, the question is, can a free-living population be successfully
re-established, and how soon?
--
Ronald I. Orenstein Phone: (905) 820-7886 (home)
International Wildlife Coalition Fax/Modem: (905) 569-0116 (home)
Home: 1825 Shady Creek Court Messages: (416) 368-4661
Mississauga, Ontario, Canada L5L 3W2 Internet: ornstn at inforamp.net
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Toronto, Ontario Canada M5H 3P5