Wild California Condors
Create First Egg in 15 Years

   According to Cat Lazaroff, for the first time in fifteen years, a California condor has laid an egg in the wild.

   The egg was found broken but the biologists say is not an unusual occurrence for condors on their first nesting attempt and this illustrates the success of the captive breeding program that removed the last California condor from the wild in 1986.

   Meanwhile, five more young California condors are scheduled to be released into the wild next week.

   In 1986, the last free flying wild California condor was found and placed in a captive breeding program.

   The first egg to be laid by a reintroduced California condor was discovered on Sunday in Grand Canyon National Park. Biologists from The Peregrine Fund found the egg in a cave in the Grand Canyon after observing nesting behavior at the same location for the past several days.

   "It was so incredible, I kept doubting that it was really an egg at first," exclaimed Sophie Osborn, field biologist for The Peregrine Fund.

   "Although my first reaction was that it was an egg, since it would be the first from a reintroduced condor, I had to control my emotions and confirm what I was seeing." "Any doubt I had was gone a short time later when a condor flew into the cave and moved the egg around," continued Osborn. "As soon as I was able to confirm that it was in fact an egg, I was able to express my elation and immediately called the office. It was a remarkable sight, a remarkable moment, and I wanted to share it with my co-workers who have worked so long and hard toward this day!"

   California condors on the Vermilion Cliffs

   The female condor who laid the egg was herself hatched in March of 1995. In May 1997, along with eight other condors, she was released on the Vermilion Cliffs close by the Grand Canyon National Park.

   Condor reintroduction effort is part of a joint project between The Peregrine Fund, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS), Bureau of Land Management (BLM), Arizona Game and Fish, National Park Service (NPS), CORE, and numerous other partners.

   "This is the first California Condor egg laid in the wild since 1986! What an important step forward for the entire reintroduction program," said Mike Spear, California/Nevada Operations Manager for the USFWS. "The cooperative efforts of all our partners are making a real difference in the conservation of the condor."

   Although this is a critical step in establishing a viable wild breeding California condor population, the egg was broken by one of the condor pair.

   "This is very exciting news. For egg laying to have occurred the first year it is biologically possible is remarkable!" said Susan MacVean, nongame specialist for the Arizona Game and Fish Department. "We hope this means we can look forward to wild hatched condor chicks in Arizona over the next two to three years."

   A captive California condor Biologists believe there is a chance the condor pair may re-nest this year. Condors are a notoriously slow breeders and the first mating attempts generally do not occur until the birds are at least six years.

   "We are pleased that the reintroduced California condors chose Grand Canyon National Park as the place where they made their first nesting attempt," said Joe Alston, superintendent of Grand Canyon National Park. Historically, condors ranged from British Columbia south to northern Baja California and in other parts of southwestern United States. Shooting by hunters and farmers, poisoning by baited or lead shot contaminated carcasses, and loss of habitat had brought the species to the brink of extinction by the 1970s.

   A difficult decision to capture the remaining condors was made when Norton was an Associate Solicitor at the Interior Department during the mid-1980's when the last seven wild California condors were captured. "The California condor was on the absolute brink of extinction." A captive breeding program has helped boost condor numbers in part because the birds can be prompted to lay up to three eggs per year in captivity - in the wild, condors generally lay just one egg every other year.

   Some of the California condors are now being released as a "non-essential/experimental population" under the Endangered Species Act, meaning that the species can be released in an area without affecting current or future land use planning.

   Biologists hope the egg heralds a new era of wild born California condors.

   Currently just 160 California condors exist in the world - 49 in the wild in California and Arizona, 10 in pre-release field pens in California, and 101 in captive breeding facilities at the World Center for Birds of Prey, the Zoological Society of San Diego, and the Los Angeles Zoo.

   On April 5, Interior Secretary Gale Norton will participate in the release of five young condors into the Ventana Wilderness near Big Sur, California. "This is a particularly fulfilling day for me," Secretary Norton said.