Sespe
Posted at 11:09 am May 23, 2008 by Ron Webb
In 1983, the California Condor Recovery Program was authorized to collect California condor eggs from wild nests in order to incubate and hatch them in a captive environment. Four eggs were collected from three different pairs in the mountains north of Los Angeles and east of Santa Barbara. All four eggs were taken to the San Diego Zoo where they were set in incubators and eventually hatched. It was the first time ever that a California condor hatched in captivity! This year marks the twenty-fifth anniversary of that historic occasion.
The third egg to hatch produced a condor named Sespe (say “SESS-pee” ). She hatched May 25, 1983, and, at the time of her hatching, was only the 26th condor in existence. Her parents were known as the Red Rock pair; mom is Tama (see her blog entry from April 7, 2008) and dad was a bird known as CCM (Castaic Creek Male). Sespe has spent the majority of her life at the San Diego Zoo’s Wild Animal Park, but from 1984 to 1992 she lived at the Los Angeles Zoo.
Sespe was paired with a male named AC-4 for ten years. She has laid 19 eggs, resulting in 14 chicks. Three of her chicks are part of the captive breeding population: 1 at the Oregon Zoo, 1 at the Wild Animal Park, and 1 at the Peregrine Fund’s World Center for Birds of Prey in Boise, Idaho. Five others are flying free as part of the release program: 1 in Southern California, 3 in central California, and 1 in northern Arizona.
Sespe is not currently in a breeding pair. In 2002, it was discovered that her genetic line was robust, so she and AC-4 were separated to prevent any genetic over-representation in the captive condor population. Two of Sespe’s sisters were also separated from their mates. In the future Sespe will be paired with another male to once again produce chicks to be released to the wild. For now, she is the star of the Condor Ridge exhibit at the Wild Animal Park. She lives with a male named Meymey and a juvenile male name Nikoy. Often, during the summer, Sespe will perch near the pool where she enjoys a shower from her keepers. Then, Wild Animal Park guests can truly appreciate a condor’s size when she suns herself afterward.
Next time you are at the Wild Animal Park, stop by to wish Sespe a Happy Hatchday as you witness a piece of living history of California and the Condor Recovery Program.
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May 24th, 2008 at 12:08 pm
So, if condors live about 50 years and start breeding at 6 years old, are they reproductively active their whole lives? Does Sespe have a lot more chicks in her future?
Editor’s note: Condors are reproductively active most of their lives. There have been a few older birds that did stop producing but the reasons / factors for that can be many. Sespe has the potential to produce additional offspring to support the recovery effort.