> >Contact: U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service, Hopper Mountain National Wildlife
> >Refuge Complex:
> >Denise Stockton, Mike Stockton or Marc Weitzel, (805) 644-5185
> >For Immediate Release:
> >
> > THREE NESTS DISCOVERED IN SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA BACK-COUNTRY:
> > ORIGINAL WILD CONDOR IS NESTING AGAIN IN THE WILD
> >
> >Biologists believe three pairs of California condors have laid eggs with a
> >fourth pair expected to lay soon. Biologists have had visual confirmation
> >of one egg, while the other two nest caves are in remote locations with no
> >visibility into the nests. The one egg that biologists had a visual
> >confirmation of belongs to a 24 year old original wild condor known as AC9,
> >and his mate. AC9 was the last wild condor brought in from the wild in 1987
> >and after fifteen years in the captive breeding program he was released
> >back into the wild 01 May 2002.
> >
> >In the nests with no visibility, the presence of an egg is based solely on
> >behavior. Each parent spends time incubating the egg while the other
> >forages for food and then they trade off. While one of the pair is at the
> >feeding site the other will be noticeably absent, which alerts the
> >biologists observing them, to nesting activity. If successful, the eggs
> >should hatch in early April. Last year only one chick was produced in
> >southern California and the chick died after 4 months. The first wild chick
> >to survive past fledging (first flight) was hatched last year in Arizona,
> >that chick at 9 months is doing fine.
> >
> >"The condors in the wild continue to follow their biological urge to
> >reproduce, and with the slow steady progress we are experiencing, we get
> >closer each year to reaching our goal of recovering this species from the
> >brink of extinction," stated Steve Thompson, Manager of the US Fish and
> >Wildlife Service's California-Nevada Operations Office.
> >
> > There are 90 condors now living in the wild in California, Arizona
> >and
> >Baja, Mexico and 125 in captivity at the Los Angeles Zoo, San Diego Wild
> >Animal Park and the Peregrine Fund's World Center for Birds of Prey in
> >Boise, Idaho. The goal of the California Condor Recovery Plan is to
> >establish two geographically separate populations, one in California and
> >the other in Arizona, each with 150 birds and at least 15 breeding pairs.
> >The largest bird in North America, condors are scavengers that have soared
> >over mountainous areas of California since prehistoric times, but their
> >numbers plummeted in the 20th Century. Condor numbers declined in part due
> >to loss of habitat and food, shooting, lead poisoning and toxic substances
> >used to poison predators. Condors were listed as an endangered species in
> >1967, under a law that pre-dated the existing Endangered Species Act. In
> >1982, the condor population reached its lowest level of 22 birds, prompting
> >biologists to start collecting chicks and eggs for a captive breeding
> >program. By late 1984, only 15 condors remained in the wild. After seven
> >condors died in rapid succession, it was decided to bring the remaining
> >birds in from the wild for the captive breeding program. In 1992, the
> >Recovery Program began releasing California condors back into the wild.
> >
> >The U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service is the principal Federal agency
> >responsible for coordinating the conservation of the California condor,
> >working with the Los Padres National Forest, California Department of Fish
> >and game, and several private partners. Private organizations and
> >institutions are not just interested observers, but are active and
> >essential participants in the implementation of the recovery program,
> >contributing personnel, expertise, institutional support, and funding.
> >California condor captive breeding programs are operated at San Diego Wild
> >Animal Park, Los Angeles Zoo, The Peregrine Fund's World Center for Birds
> >of Prey and most recently the Oregon Zoo. Release programs in California
> >are managed by Ventana Wilderness Society, The US Park Service at Pinnacles
> >National Monument and U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service Hopper Mountain
> >National Wildlife Refuge; the Arizona release is managed by The Peregrine
> >Fund: and the Baja release site by the Zoological Society of San Diego.
> >
> >The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service is the principal federal agency
> >responsible for conserving, protecting and enhancing fish, wildlife and
> >plants and their habitats for the continuing benefit of the American
> >people. The Service manages the 95-million-acre National Wildlife Refuge
> >System, which encompasses 544 national wildlife refuges, thousands of small
> >wetlands and other special management areas. It also operates 69 national
> >fish hatcheries, 64 fishery resource offices and 81 ecological services
> >field stations. The agency enforces federal wildlife laws, administers the
> >Endangered Species Act, manages migratory bird populations, restores
> >nationally significant fisheries, conserves and restores wildlife habitat
> >such as wetlands, and helps foreign governments with their conservation
> >efforts. It also oversees the Federal Aid program that distributes hundreds
> >of millions of dollars in excise taxes on fishing and hunting equipment to
> >state fish and wildlife agencies
> >
> > For more information about the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service
> > and condors, visit our home page at http://hoppermountain.fws.gov





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