A plan to bring six more California condors to Pinnacles
National Monument in early February was pushed back and the birds
should arrive in four to six weeks.
Initially, half the condors were scheduled to arrive from the
San Diego Zoo
– and half from the Los Angeles Zoo, according to Pinnacles lead
biologist Rebecca Leonard.
A plan to bring six more California condors to Pinnacles National Monument in early February was pushed back and the birds should arrive in four to six weeks.
Initially, half the condors were scheduled to arrive from the San Diego Zoo – and half from the Los Angeles Zoo, according to Pinnacles lead biologist Rebecca Leonard.
But after condors from the San Diego Zoo were transferred in December to a pen in Ventura County, federal parks officials decided to conduct a release there instead, Leonard said.
Now, all six condors will come from the Los Angeles Zoo to Pinnacles, but at a later undetermined date. Involved organizations – including Pinnacles, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and the Ventana Wilderness Society – are still working out details.
They have not decided whether to involve school kids or other guests in the arrival again, as they did the first time, Leonard said.
“There will be six more birds coming,” Leonard said. “It’s just a matter of what day.”
It would be the second batch of six condors in Pinnacles’ recent involvement in the national reintroduction program of the endangered species. Pinnacles officials plan to nurture and release condors until a sustained local population of 20 is reached.
The first six arrived in September and were let go in December. Those birds are all free-flying and healthy, according to Leonard.
Getting all males the first time, she said, was the result of a random selection. The second time around, all six will be females. And again, the birds were randomly assigned to the Pinnacles release location.
Leonard pointed out some changes in store for the second group, such as improvements to the flight pen and a “different strategy” for the release considering their counterparts’ presence.
Those soaring birds have been witnessed by many park visitors, Leonard said. The best chance to view them is in the afternoon near the High Peaks trail or south of the campground, Leonard said.
Pinnacles also holds weekend programs on Saturdays and Sundays where park rangers discuss the condor reintroduction. There are no set times, but rangers usually respond to increasing attendance around 9 a.m. and 2 p.m.
“We encourage people to come out and see the birds,” Leonard said.
For more information on the condor program, call Pinnacles at (831) 389-4485.
