After years of preparation and three months of grooming at
Pinnacles National Monument, six endangered California condors will
be released Friday.
Park officials expect about 300 people to attend the noon
release. Anyone hoping to catch a glimpse of the birds should
arrive early because parking will likely be scarce, said Park
Superintendent Cicely Muldoon.
After years of preparation and three months of grooming at Pinnacles National Monument, six endangered California condors will be released Friday.
Park officials expect about 300 people to attend the noon release. Anyone hoping to catch a glimpse of the birds should arrive early because parking will likely be scarce, said Park Superintendent Cicely Muldoon.
The park will provide shuttles from the east entrance. They will drop off visitors at the starting point of a 1 1/2-mile hike to the release, she said. The vans will run from 8:30 to 11 a.m., while gates open at 7:30 a.m.
“(The condors) are pretty much set,” Muldoon said Tuesday. “It all looks good. As long as there’s no hurricane, we’re releasing those birds.”
Park biologists plan to open the condor’s mesh pen at about noon. But they’re not sure how many birds, if any, will immediately soar through the rocky formations that distinguish the monument.
Muldoon said the behavior of condors at other releases throughout the nation has not been consistent. A couple of the birds at Pinnacles in particular, though, seem ready to go, she said.
The young condors, along with one older mentor bird, first arrived to the pen about three months ago. Before that, the condors were staying at Big Sur under the guidance of the Ventana Wilderness Society. And they were bred at the San Diego Zoo.
The project, the first ever condor release at Pinnacles, has been under way since 1999. Other condor restorations have also taken place at Big Sur. But the Central Coast region is one of only four areas of the world spearheading such efforts.
The California condor has been listed on the Endangered Species list since 1967. The population reached its lowest point of 27 in the 1970s. Restoration efforts have boosted the population to about 220.
Muldoon said she expects about 40 National Park Service representatives to attend the release, along with another six or so from both the Ventana Wilderness Society and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service.
For information about the release, call Pinnacles at 389-4485.
