Three weeks ago, when roads to the Ventana Wilderness Society
facility became impassable due to the Big Sur fire, the U.S. Coast
Guard rescued nine 1-year-old condors and delivered them to the
Pinnacles National Monument flight facility.
Hollister
Three weeks ago, when roads to the Ventana Wilderness Society facility became impassable due to the Big Sur fire, the U.S. Coast Guard rescued nine 1-year-old condors and delivered them to the Pinnacles National Monument flight facility.
The state-of-the-art pen at Pinnacles is now the temporary home of these endangered birds. The volunteer staff and biologists there are doing all they can to get the condors ready to be released in early November, said Pinnacles Chief of Internal Education Carl Brenner.
The captive breeding program at the Pinnacles facility and the destroyed – but soon to be rebuilt – Ventana Wilderness facility are part of an ambitious but successful program that brought the last 23 surviving California condors into captive breeding programs in 1982. As of May 2008 their numbers have swelled to 332 with 152 living in the wild.
The nine condors now at the facility cannot be viewed by the general public until their release. They spend their days with a mentor bird, which demonstrates to them the proper way to locate food, select a roosting spot, and to assert dominance. They were received three weeks ago, and some will be released on November 1. The public is invited to this event and to a subsequent release, which will take place soon after.
Not all the condors will remain at Pinnacles. Some will be taken to a flight facility in Baja where they also will be released in November, and the mentor bird will be returned to Ventana once it is rebuilt.
The Pinnacles facility is approximately 30 feet by 60 feet, mostly made of open netting that allows the warm updrafts in, allowing the condors to practice their hovering. There are small cave-like areas for them when they’re feeling reclusive and a variety of trees, snags and rock walls for them to practice roosting.
“There are also power poles,” Brenner said. “The mentor birds teach them not to roost on power poles as doing so is one of the leading causes of condor death.
“Of course, the leading cause is lead poisoning, said Carl, noting it as a reason, he contends, to avoid using lead bullets.
Visitors to the pinnacles can look forward to seeing the four condors released in November. They will join the 16 currently residing in San Benito County and might be sighted for years to come.
