Last month, we conducted an expedition to install a series of meteorological stations on the remote and inaccessible eastern escarpment of the Sierra Mountains of Baja California, Mexico. This rugged region of spectacular natural beauty is the release site for the San Diego Zoo’s California condor reintroduction program. This site was chosen because of its status as a pristine, protected area of the condor’s former range. Condors existed in the mountains of Baja until they disappeared in the 1940s, only to reappear in 2002 when the San Diego Zoo released captive-bred birds back into their former habitat.
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On Friday, September 18, we attempted to release three more California condors to the wild at our condor reintroduction site in Baja California, Mexico. We had conditioned the three new birds, numbers 430, 436, and 446, in the large aviary with our adult mentor, Xewe, since they arrived at the site from the Wild Animal Park on March 19. The threesome was transferred a few weeks ago to the release pen situated atop a 2,000-foot ridge, where they could become accustomed to the sights and sounds of the area and see previously released condors use the food and water available to them once they were free. New tags and transmitters were attached on the night of September 13 by the field crew and they were ready to go. However…
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With enough rope to make the 550-foot (170-meter) rappel to the cliff base, Juan Vargas and I moved steadily downward to this year’s only condor nest in the Baja California, Mexico, California condor release program (see post, Condors: Quest for the Egg). Situated in a 6-foot (1.8-meter)-deep cave punched into a massive granite wall, it was the same cavity this pair attempted to nest in last year but failed in the egg stage of incubation. This season they incubated an egg successfully, and the cave now housed a startled, month-and-a-half-old chick that began hissing and lunging at us as we landed at the cave opening.
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A few months ago we started working on program for our dedicated polar bear and giant panda fans to allow them to get in the driver’s seat and take a stance in the effort to save these two majestic bears. Today we are excited to announce that the program – which we are calling Animal SOS – is finally ready for all of you to see. www.sandiegozoo.org/animalsos
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April has been a very busy and exciting month for the San Diego Zoo’s California condor project. Condor field managers and researchers have been using VHF and GPS telemetry to closely monitor the movement behaviors of the birds that have been reintroduced to Baja California, Mexico. Early spring is the condor breeding season, and we hope to observe breeding and nesting behaviors that will lead to successfully fledged chicks this year.
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It’s the end of the year and time for a new cohort of California condors to begin the mentoring process at the San Diego Zoo’s Wild Animal Park. Four youngsters, fresh out of their nest boxes, have been selected to prepare for eventual release to the wilds of Baja California, Mexico. They are currently sharing a small enclosure with a mentor bird while the group adjusts to communal living, and shortly the group will be given access to a large flight pen where they will live for the next eight months. During this time, researchers from the Zoo’s Applied Animal Ecology Division will be documenting their behavior as a continuation of a study we began a few years back. The goal of our research is to determine any social or temperamental factors that might help us to predict which individual birds are going to be successful when released to their native habitat.
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The Santa Barbara Zoo will become only the second United States zoo where the public can view the critically endangered California condor on exhibit. Santa Barbara will join the San Diego Zoo’s Wild Animal Park which has been exhibiting the California condor since the year 2000.

The animal carcasses that condors rely on for food are widely distributed across the landscape and are relatively unpredictable in their occurrence. Condors must regularly make long-distance foraging flights over large areas to maximize their chances to detect a suitable meal. Because of their large size condors can conserve energy by soaring for long periods without flapping their wings, similar to albatrosses. Condors require strong and consistent thermal winds to achieve the altitudes needed to make these long-distance soaring flights in search of food.
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For Immediate Release
May 28, 2008

Public invited to vote for the 2008 Zoo Father of the Year

PORTLAND, Ore. — It’s time for dads to take center stage, and the Oregon Zoo wants your help in choosing its Zoo Father of the Year for 2008. Atishwin the California condor, Kiku the colobus monkey, and Packy the Asian elephant are this year’s honored contenders. An online ballot featuring photos and short biographies of the zoo dads is posted on the Oregon Zoo’s Web site: www.oregonzoo.org/Voter/vote_form.cfm.

“We just finished a campaign for Zoo Mother of the Year and found it was a fun way to initiate a relationship between the public and the highlighted animals,” said Tony Vecchio, zoo director. “As the public reads about the nominees, all of which belong to species that are either threatened or endangered, we hope they’ll come to understand and care about the challenges facing these animals in the wild.”
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For Immediate Release
May 22, 2008

PORTLAND, Ore. — After a week of antibiotics and a blood transfusion from adult condor Nootka, Oregon Zoo staff is pleased to report that the newest zoo addition, an endangered California condor chick, has seemingly turned he corner and is getting stronger.
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