The public is invited to attend Condor Comeback 2011 on Sept. 24
at Pinnacles National Monument where up to two young California
condors will be released for their first flight into the wild
during a celebration from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m.
The public is invited to attend Condor Comeback 2011 on Sept. 24 at Pinnacles National Monument where up to two young California condors will be released for their first flight into the wild during a celebration from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m.
No entrance fee will be charged. Superintendent Karen Beppler-Dorn has scheduled the event to coincide with National Public Lands Day, a day when these fees are waived at all National Park sites.
The event will be held at the Pinnacles Visitor Center near the campground on the east side of the park, which people can get to from Hwy. 25 south of Hollister. Car pooling is encouraged since parking is limited and will be on a first-come, first-served basis.
The Condor Comeback event will feature two large flat panel video display screens that will carry a live, remote video feed from the backcountry condor facility to the visitor center. The public can watch the young condors in the facility pen and the first flight of any released birds. There will be speakers, informational and educational booths staffed by rangers and park partners, an activity booth for children, and a volunteer micro-trash pickup.
The 1-year-old juvenile condors – two females and two males – have been acclimating to their new home in a 20- by 40-foot flight pen at Pinnacles since their arrival in July. Up to two birds may be “soft released” – a technique that allows the juveniles to escape the pen without seeing people.
There is a chance that no birds will leave the flight pen on the day of the event, due to the circumstances of a “soft release.”
There have been 28 condors successfully released since the program started in 2003. This would be the eighth release, about a year after the seventh similar event.
