July 8, 2022 • 21 mins
What was once extinct but now glides across southwestern U.S. skies? It’s the California Condor! Hosts Rick and Ebone explore the species’ deep ties to its region, how you can spot this vulture, and what is included in their diet in order to maintain an impressive wingspan. Lead Wildlife Care Specialist, Ron Webb, and Associate Director of Conservation Research Division, Nacho Vilchis, join the show to explain the imperative work that took place to reintroduce the largest North American land bird back into the wild.
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Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:05):
Hi, I'm Abney Money and I'm Rick Schwartz. Welcome to
Amazing Wildlife, where we explore unique stories of wildlife from
around the world and uncover fascinating animal facts. This podcast
is a production of I Heart Radio and San Diego
Zoo Wildlife Alliance, in international nonprofit conservation organization behind the
San Diego Zoo and Safari Park. Today, we're telling the
(00:27):
story of a bird that was once extinct in the wild,
but now glides across southwestern US skies. We're exploring the
California condors deep ties to the region, and we're talking
to two San Diego Zoo Wildlife Alliance team members, Lead
wildlife care Specialists Ron Webb and Associate Director of Conservation
Research Division Nacho Vila Chiese about what it took to
(00:49):
work with partners to reintroduce the largest North American land
bird back into the wild. Rick, So, how big is
the California condor, oh ebony. I think it's fair to
say they are really, really big, and then the numbers
support that their wingspan alone is very impressive, ranging anywhere
(01:10):
from eight to almost ten ft wing tip to wing tip,
and when we look at body length head to tail,
if you will. The average is about three and a
half feet to four feet in length. And wait, well,
on average we're talking sixteen to twenty two pounds. They
are quite the big bird. Wow. So a wingspan of
eight to ten feet that is impressive and hard to imagine. Rick,
(01:34):
how does that compare to other large birds that people
might see or be more familiar with. Yeah, I think
that's a fair question, EVIANY. And I think a good
bird to compare them with is a golden eagle. They
share a lot of the same habitat, and the golden
eagle is well known. So when we compare them with
the golden eagle, of course, the California condor is the
bigger bird. Pound for pound, golden eagle is coming in
(01:54):
about eight to twelve pounds, and even as powerful as
they are, that is still about half the weight of
the California condor. And that impressive wingspan. Well, again, golden
eagles measure about six to eight feet wing tip to
wing tip, and as we know, that's a couple of
feet less than the California condor. So these are some
pretty big birds. We're talking about. What exactly does a
California condor hunt or eat. What do they need to
(02:17):
be so big? Well, I love this question, ey, because
you are right. The bigger the animal, the more they
need to eat. So what in the world does such
a big bird eat and how do they get their meal? Well,
the California condor, like other condors and vultures, eats carrion
or already deceased animals, and they'll feast on large mammals,
including beer cows, elk, sea lion, and even a whale
(02:39):
carcass that might wash ashore. And the size and wingspan
of the California condor play an important role in how
they find their food. So, unlike some vultures, which use
their sense of smell to find food, California condors use
their incredibly good eyesight. They can fly hundreds of miles
every day, soaring in incredibly high altitudes to find their
next meal. And you might think they are scanning the
(03:00):
ground for carcasses to feed upon, but that can be
difficult to see sometimes. So how does their amazing eyesight
help them find their next meal? They watch the behavior
of other smaller scavengers, such as vultures, crows, and ravens.
As these and other scavengers circle above, and gather around
a carcass. Their movements and behaviors are observed by the
(03:21):
California condor, letting the condor know that a meal is available.
And to answer the last part of your question, they
need to be as big as they are with a
large wingspan so they can use thermal updrafts so they
can sort high above everybody else looking for these activities
and behaviors to find their next meal. And it's hard
to believe, but they can glide on thermals up to
ten feet. These birds sound clever. That's so impressive that
(03:45):
they're able to find food by watching the behavior of
other animals. And according to indigenous folklore, the California condor
gained the nickname thunderbird because people said the flapping of
their wing could create thunder. What's known about the birds
cultural significance in native cultures, It really is amazing, embany.
(04:09):
I mean, when you think about it, the California condor
has been around since supplices in epoch, which we're talking
tens of thousands of years, that the species and early
humans shared space and continued to do so in our
modern era, and with the California condor historically living across
all of North America, including as far east as Florida
and New York, and more recently western North America. There
(04:29):
were clearly many different cultures that held a special place
in their lives and ceremonies for these amazing birds. In
many cultures, the California condor is associated with a spiritual
connection to the other world or spiritual world, sometimes representing
a connection to those who have passed, or representing the
death and rebirth of life, and other similar beliefs. But
(04:52):
one of the more well known connections that has shared
across many cultures is the California condor, also being known
as the thunder bird, be it bringing the power of
a thunderstorm with its appearance in the sky to creating
thunder with a flap of its wings. I think it
is fair to say the California condor made a big
impact on all whoever had the opportunity to see them.
(05:14):
And Rick, we've covered a few of the California condors
stand out characteristics such as its wingspan as you just mentioned,
and overall size. But how else can you identify these birds? Well,
I mean, I think some people might just look at
them and think that they're a giant vulture, and I
guess that wouldn't be completely wrong because California condors are
(05:35):
a type of vulture, but much much larger than the
average vulture species. But general characteristics of an adult California condor,
aside from size, they're primarily black in color. They do
have brilliant white triangles under each wing and a red
or orange head. Some adults are younger, These would be
the condors six years and younger are almost entirely black
(05:57):
with dark heads and sort of a multi gray plume
wage on the underside of each wing brick. Another identifying
characteristics are the number tags on both wings. What are
those numbers for? What do they indicate? Yesh ebony and
this is the best way to also tell if you
are actually seeing a California condor in the wild versus
a different species of vulture. All California condors are carefully
(06:20):
studied and to make sure we know where they are
and who is who, each condor is tagged for identification purposes.
The numbers on the California condor's wing tags correspond to
their tag i D database shared between the US Fish
and Wildlife Service and countless other organizations working to save them,
including the San Diego Zoo Wildlife Alliance. What's the California
(06:41):
condor's current status in the wild. Well, currently, the California
condor is listed as critically endangered. But before we talk
about their current population numbers, I want our audiences to
understand that in the nineties there were only twenty two
individuals left in the entire planet. That's twenty two California
condor's left on the entire higher planet. And it's worth
(07:01):
noting their decline and near extinction was not a natural process.
The impact of human populations from litter in the environment,
lead being released into habitats, and pesticides are just some
of what was causing their decline. But like I always say,
if it is a human made problem, well then there
can be a correction with the human made solution. And
although the California condor is currently listed as a critically
(07:24):
endangered species, the future is looking bright for them. Well,
I guess you could say looking up right, because with
the work of multiple zoos, conservation partners, and government agencies,
there are now almost five hundred California condors alive today
and about half of that population is flying free in
the wild. The California Condors conservation story. It's a great
(07:45):
example of how we can create a world where all
life thrives when we work together. Their story always brings
me hope for them and so many other endangered species.
And we'll be talking more about the California condors concert
Asian story in just a bit, but first this now
(08:06):
it's time for the San Diego Zoom Minute, an opportunity
for you to learn what's new at the Zoo. The
San Diego Zoo Wildlife Alliance has a new way for
allies to connect with wildlife and explore exotic locations around
the world, while helping to save species and support local
communities at the same time. San Diego Zoo Wildlife Alliance Adventures,
(08:29):
a new sustainable travel business, provides opportunities to visit some
of the most awe inspiring places on the planet, guided
by top conservation scientists, wildlife experts, and photographers. Did you
Know studies and our disease investigations show that the main
obstacle preventing condor populations from becoming viable in the wild
(08:49):
is lead poisoning, resulting from ingestion of ammunition fragments and
carcasses left by hunters. Yeah, let's continue to delve into
the story of the California condor, the largest North American
(09:10):
land bird that disappeared in nature and was declared extinct
in the wild in the late nineteen eighties. We have
two experts joining the conversation to talk about the efforts
people have made to save this species. We're welcoming the
Associate director of Recovery Ecology, Nacho villed Cheese, and Ron Webb,
(09:30):
the lead wildlife care specialists for the Condor project, both
with the San Diego Zoo Wildlife Alliance. So the San
Diego Zoo was the first facility in the world to
hatch a California condor. Nacho, What did it take to
make that possible is a huge amount of effort that
actually began in the late forties. So Bell Benchley, who
(09:53):
was a San Diego Zoo director at the time, and
also Casey Lint who was a curator birch at the time,
first proposed conservation breading of a con doors in nineteen nine.
This proposition came from the success in breeding andian condors
at the San Diego who in the forties. We were
really good at that, but unfortunately Benuley and Lint. We're
not able to gain the consensus of the then condor
(10:13):
biologist community, and so nothing really happened. And fast forward
to thirty five years later in the mid eighties, when
all the condors were brought into conservation breeding programs at
the San Diego Zoo whild Animal Park, or at the
time was called that now there's a Friday Park and
the Los Angeles to thirteen went to l a and
thirteen went to San Diego and the last condor, known
as a C nine, was captured in the eastern Sunday
(10:35):
of so in order to quickly increase the population of
all pairs, the breeding pairs who were encouraged to lay
two eggs. Ron knows much more about this than me,
by removing one egg in early incubations, so females would
lay a replacement egg. And with most of these chicks
were hand raised by keepers using puppets mimicking the condra parents,
which is a tremendous amount of work. And currently chicks
(10:56):
are raised now by their parents because we know that
this provides the best outcomes for in the future when
they're released. What do you think on Yeah, there's a
lot of time and cooperation to help recover the condors.
The Safari Park and the San Diego Zoo were asked
initially to help with the Los Angeles Zoo, and since
then we've brought another partner's the Oregan Zoo in Portlands,
(11:18):
the World Center for Birds of Prey up in Boise, Idaho,
and now that Chapoltepec Zoo in Mexico City were the
five breeding facilities for California condors, and we also work
with several reintroduction organizations at the different release sites, Ventana
Wildlife Society, the Paragrine Fund, Fish and Wildlife Services. Thats
a big team effort to get the condors together, and
(11:39):
we couldn't have done it as just one organization. It's
really interesting to see the cooperation and coordination over the
years to get the efforts that we've put forth to
come to fruition. And not sure what does it mean
to be the associate director of Recovery Ecology. Where does
your role fit into the conservation of the California condor
Whether Sandy Wa Hawaiians I hope run our conservation research
(12:02):
program that works hand in hand with all the five
release sites and Efficient Wildlife Service so We work particularly
close with the release side in Bach, California, where we
work with our Mexican partners to continue to learn as
much as we can about the species and its best
options for recovery. So one big thing that we do
is we provide logistical and financial support to this release
side and to our Mexican partners. And I also helped
(12:23):
coordinate this too. Same question, run, what's your role in
that of your teams? As the lead wildlife care specialists
for the condor project at the Safari Park, we have
about thirty avian wildlife care specialists to take care of
a lot of birds around the park, many different species.
We have a five or six condor care specialists and
I helped coordinate that team and their efforts into achieving
(12:46):
goals that the Seigo Zoo Wildlife Alliance sets as well
as the US Fishing Wildlife Service who oversees the program.
So I helped kind of coordinate the efforts between the
two to reach our goals. Can you give an example
like what might that look like? So how is work
being done at the San Diego Zu Safari Park connected
to the conservation of California condors? Well, every California condor
(13:07):
that's produced at the park. We call it a release candida,
a reintroduction candidate. We expect that bird to be released
back to the wild to join the free flying flock.
Every once a while there's a bird we're asked to
keep it back, whether it's for breeding purposes or I
might have a physical disadvantage, but we start off expecting
every bird to be released. We have a strict release
(13:28):
protocol in which we raise these birds to have a
limited contact with humans. We find that the more familiar
they are with humans before they're released to the wild,
the lower their survivability is, so we try to make
sure we're producing good wild birds that aren't attracted to
human activity. That brings me to my next question, why
is human assistance needed? I'm sure people are possibly wondering
(13:51):
that very question. In the ecology, every species has a
birth rate or hatch rate, or they call it a
replacement rate, at a rate at which lost individuals are
replaced by the members that die, and then there's the
mortality rate, and those two rates kind of work hand
in hand. The California condor is a species has a
very low mortality rate naturally, and therefore it has a
(14:12):
very low replacement rate. When you don't die very often,
there's no need to reproduce very often, and that kind
of keeps the population in check, as opposed to like
a species that dies often, like food sources, rabbits, lizards, ducks,
mice that babies all the time. Because they're getting eaten
all the time, they have a high mortality rate and
they need a high reproductive rate to to keep up
(14:32):
with that. So the condors were cruised along pretty well
there for a few thousand years, and in the last
couple of hundred years, their mortality rate was artificially elevated
because of people, and sometimes it was purposeful persecution and
sometimes it's accidental, and so we've actually artificially elevated at
mortality rate. So fast forward to the present day. What
(14:54):
has happened since the first hatching ron? How many more
hatchings have They're been original we had those fifteen wild
eggs were brought to the San Diego Zoo for artificial
incubation and then hatching, and then since then we started
getting our zoo bred birds the eggs being laid at
the Safari Park. But altogether we've had seven eggs laid
(15:15):
at the Safari Park, and two chicks have hatched between
the zoo and the Safari Park, and um a hundred
sixty eight of those chicks that have hatched have been
released to the wild. So what's the process of preparing
a California condor for release into nature. Yes, so it's
a long lived species. As not to mention earlier, it
(15:37):
takes about eighteen months to reach independence, so it's with
mom and dad for about a year and a half.
It doesn't fly until it's five months of age, so
it's a very long rearing period and mom and dad
both incubate the egg and take care of the chick
at the same time, the one egg in the nest.
Initially we would puppet raise the birds because we didn't
know the compatibility behavioral compatibility of the birds own the
(16:00):
program first started, and so every egg was very valuable,
very rare, and when the numbers were so low, and
so we pulled everything to artificial incubation, we puppet reared
the best we could and then we try to raise
the best behaved birds possible with the known methods, and
over time, thanks to different file just measuring a suitability
(16:21):
for birds after their release, we've been able to tweak
our methods of puppet ring and so they're prehaving just
like parent reared birds. And also too, we've been able
to give the breeding birds at the park opportunities to
raise their own chicks, and now the majority of the
chicks are raised by the parents. They're very impressionable, especially
post fledge when they leave the nest, and so we
(16:43):
don't send them to the release sites until they're about
a year and a half old, and until then they
stay here at the park with a mentor bird living
in a group of young birds. And then there's an
adult bird and that we call the mentor. It's a female.
Her job is to kind of continue the job the
parents started and what the puppe may have started, showing
them how to interact in a group the very social species.
(17:05):
She kind of shows them where they're allowed to perch,
when they're allowed to eat, who they're allowed to sit
next to. Kind of, so she's the boss and she's
kind of showing them the ropes. Um, it's better that
she shows them the ropes rather than a dominant male
that's not gonna be as forgiving out in the wild.
So they all kind of lived together for about a
year or so after they fledge here at the park
(17:25):
and then they're sent to their release sites where their
socialized very shortly with their cohort, and then they're released
to the wild and they kind of trickle in and
they kind of slowly assimilated into the free flying population.
So lastly, what's next and the conservation of the Califerna
condor Nacho, Well, I think the next part is just
to continue conservation breeding. When a lot of releases and
(17:46):
the five release sites soon to be six, I think
that's key, is just to continue that and also to
continue all the conservation research. And also one thing that
we're involved with along with all the other release sites
is that we're working with Mano Ficklenstein for a music
Santa Cruz to revamp an old population viability model that
is gonna better guide us to know what's it gonna
take to recover the species and get it off to
(18:07):
endangered species list or downlisted to threat which is still
a far horizon, but we want to know what's it
gonna take. And having all the survival and mortality numbers
from all release sites into that model is going to
be really helpful to information for all of us, and Ron,
how how will your team fit into this conservation plan.
Our job is to be here to help produce a
(18:29):
nurture some California condors to be reintroduced to the wild,
as many as the Fish Walife Service needs to have
a sustaining population. I was see ourselves as the training
wheels for the species. Species is trying to truck along
nice and securely, and we're on the back kind of
keeping it upright, and then after it's built up some speed,
(18:49):
then we could pop the training wheels off and then
the bike just goes off from the road without us,
and hopefully someday will be put out of a job.
I wouldn't mind having to look for a new job
as long as the California Condra has self sustained population
out there. So, Ron, I understand that there is a
pretty neat way for people at home to get connected
with this project. Can you tell us about the condor cam. Yeah,
(19:11):
we have a camera in one of our nests at
the Safari Park showing up mom and dad. It started
off with them taking care of their egg and their
chick hatched a little while ago, and now they're raising
their chick on camera. And you can tune in any
time and watch the dad. His name is Seucil, and
the mom's name is Antique. They're raising their little chick.
Doesn't have a name yet, but it will get one.
The really fun thing about this year is Antiqui, the mom.
(19:34):
She was raised on Condor Cam back in. Now she's
old enough to have her own kids, and so she's
the Conter Camp star raising more Condra Cam stars. But
it's really fun to watch the progress of the chick
as it's growing, and you can watch some feeding sessions,
watch it picking up mom and dad's neck and they
could kind of discipline it or cuddle with it. It's
really fun to watch the interactions. People normally think of
(19:57):
this vulture this kind of slurping on, blooding, eating everything,
and you can see be so nurturing and loving towards
its chick. It's really fun. It really gets you to
understand little bond, family bond that goes on with something
you don't normally think about with vultures. Wow, that sounds amazing.
We've been talking to Nacho of Cheese and Ron Web
with the San Diego Zoo Wildlife Alliance about the conservation
(20:19):
of the California Condor. Thanks so much for sharing all
of that great information. Thank you, thank you, thanks for listening.
We hope you enjoyed learning about the California Condor, and
be sure to subscribe and tune into next week's episode,
in which we're bringing the story of an animal that
runs so fast you think they'd be hard to spot.
(20:43):
I'm Abdy Money and I'm Rich Schwartz. Thanks for listening.
If you would like to find out more about San
Diego Zoo Wildlife Alliance, please visit sdz w a dot org.
Amazing Wildlife is a production of I Heart Radio. Our
producer is Nikia Swinton and our executive producer is Marci A. Peanut.
Our audio engineer and editor is Sierra Spring. For more
(21:05):
shows from my Heart Radio, check out the I Heart
Radio app, Apple podcast, or wherever you listen to your
favorite shows.
Hi, I'm Abney Money and I'm Rick Schwartz. Welcome to
Amazing Wildlife, where we explore unique stories of wildlife from
around the world and uncover fascinating animal facts. This podcast
is a production of I Heart Radio and San Diego
Zoo Wildlife Alliance, in international nonprofit conservation organization behind the
San Diego Zoo and Safari Park. Today, we're telling the
(00:27):
story of a bird that was once extinct in the wild,
but now glides across southwestern US skies. We're exploring the
California condors deep ties to the region, and we're talking
to two San Diego Zoo Wildlife Alliance team members, Lead
wildlife care Specialists Ron Webb and Associate Director of Conservation
Research Division Nacho Vila Chiese about what it took to
(00:49):
work with partners to reintroduce the largest North American land
bird back into the wild. Rick, So, how big is
the California condor, oh ebony. I think it's fair to
say they are really, really big, and then the numbers
support that their wingspan alone is very impressive, ranging anywhere
(01:10):
from eight to almost ten ft wing tip to wing tip,
and when we look at body length head to tail,
if you will. The average is about three and a
half feet to four feet in length. And wait, well,
on average we're talking sixteen to twenty two pounds. They
are quite the big bird. Wow. So a wingspan of
eight to ten feet that is impressive and hard to imagine. Rick,
(01:34):
how does that compare to other large birds that people
might see or be more familiar with. Yeah, I think
that's a fair question, EVIANY. And I think a good
bird to compare them with is a golden eagle. They
share a lot of the same habitat, and the golden
eagle is well known. So when we compare them with
the golden eagle, of course, the California condor is the
bigger bird. Pound for pound, golden eagle is coming in
(01:54):
about eight to twelve pounds, and even as powerful as
they are, that is still about half the weight of
the California condor. And that impressive wingspan. Well, again, golden
eagles measure about six to eight feet wing tip to
wing tip, and as we know, that's a couple of
feet less than the California condor. So these are some
pretty big birds. We're talking about. What exactly does a
California condor hunt or eat. What do they need to
(02:17):
be so big? Well, I love this question, ey, because
you are right. The bigger the animal, the more they
need to eat. So what in the world does such
a big bird eat and how do they get their meal? Well,
the California condor, like other condors and vultures, eats carrion
or already deceased animals, and they'll feast on large mammals,
including beer cows, elk, sea lion, and even a whale
(02:39):
carcass that might wash ashore. And the size and wingspan
of the California condor play an important role in how
they find their food. So, unlike some vultures, which use
their sense of smell to find food, California condors use
their incredibly good eyesight. They can fly hundreds of miles
every day, soaring in incredibly high altitudes to find their
next meal. And you might think they are scanning the
(03:00):
ground for carcasses to feed upon, but that can be
difficult to see sometimes. So how does their amazing eyesight
help them find their next meal? They watch the behavior
of other smaller scavengers, such as vultures, crows, and ravens.
As these and other scavengers circle above, and gather around
a carcass. Their movements and behaviors are observed by the
(03:21):
California condor, letting the condor know that a meal is available.
And to answer the last part of your question, they
need to be as big as they are with a
large wingspan so they can use thermal updrafts so they
can sort high above everybody else looking for these activities
and behaviors to find their next meal. And it's hard
to believe, but they can glide on thermals up to
ten feet. These birds sound clever. That's so impressive that
(03:45):
they're able to find food by watching the behavior of
other animals. And according to indigenous folklore, the California condor
gained the nickname thunderbird because people said the flapping of
their wing could create thunder. What's known about the birds
cultural significance in native cultures, It really is amazing, embany.
(04:09):
I mean, when you think about it, the California condor
has been around since supplices in epoch, which we're talking
tens of thousands of years, that the species and early
humans shared space and continued to do so in our
modern era, and with the California condor historically living across
all of North America, including as far east as Florida
and New York, and more recently western North America. There
(04:29):
were clearly many different cultures that held a special place
in their lives and ceremonies for these amazing birds. In
many cultures, the California condor is associated with a spiritual
connection to the other world or spiritual world, sometimes representing
a connection to those who have passed, or representing the
death and rebirth of life, and other similar beliefs. But
(04:52):
one of the more well known connections that has shared
across many cultures is the California condor, also being known
as the thunder bird, be it bringing the power of
a thunderstorm with its appearance in the sky to creating
thunder with a flap of its wings. I think it
is fair to say the California condor made a big
impact on all whoever had the opportunity to see them.
(05:14):
And Rick, we've covered a few of the California condors
stand out characteristics such as its wingspan as you just mentioned,
and overall size. But how else can you identify these birds? Well,
I mean, I think some people might just look at
them and think that they're a giant vulture, and I
guess that wouldn't be completely wrong because California condors are
(05:35):
a type of vulture, but much much larger than the
average vulture species. But general characteristics of an adult California condor,
aside from size, they're primarily black in color. They do
have brilliant white triangles under each wing and a red
or orange head. Some adults are younger, These would be
the condors six years and younger are almost entirely black
(05:57):
with dark heads and sort of a multi gray plume
wage on the underside of each wing brick. Another identifying
characteristics are the number tags on both wings. What are
those numbers for? What do they indicate? Yesh ebony and
this is the best way to also tell if you
are actually seeing a California condor in the wild versus
a different species of vulture. All California condors are carefully
(06:20):
studied and to make sure we know where they are
and who is who, each condor is tagged for identification purposes.
The numbers on the California condor's wing tags correspond to
their tag i D database shared between the US Fish
and Wildlife Service and countless other organizations working to save them,
including the San Diego Zoo Wildlife Alliance. What's the California
(06:41):
condor's current status in the wild. Well, currently, the California
condor is listed as critically endangered. But before we talk
about their current population numbers, I want our audiences to
understand that in the nineties there were only twenty two
individuals left in the entire planet. That's twenty two California
condor's left on the entire higher planet. And it's worth
(07:01):
noting their decline and near extinction was not a natural process.
The impact of human populations from litter in the environment,
lead being released into habitats, and pesticides are just some
of what was causing their decline. But like I always say,
if it is a human made problem, well then there
can be a correction with the human made solution. And
although the California condor is currently listed as a critically
(07:24):
endangered species, the future is looking bright for them. Well,
I guess you could say looking up right, because with
the work of multiple zoos, conservation partners, and government agencies,
there are now almost five hundred California condors alive today
and about half of that population is flying free in
the wild. The California Condors conservation story. It's a great
(07:45):
example of how we can create a world where all
life thrives when we work together. Their story always brings
me hope for them and so many other endangered species.
And we'll be talking more about the California condors concert
Asian story in just a bit, but first this now
(08:06):
it's time for the San Diego Zoom Minute, an opportunity
for you to learn what's new at the Zoo. The
San Diego Zoo Wildlife Alliance has a new way for
allies to connect with wildlife and explore exotic locations around
the world, while helping to save species and support local
communities at the same time. San Diego Zoo Wildlife Alliance Adventures,
(08:29):
a new sustainable travel business, provides opportunities to visit some
of the most awe inspiring places on the planet, guided
by top conservation scientists, wildlife experts, and photographers. Did you
Know studies and our disease investigations show that the main
obstacle preventing condor populations from becoming viable in the wild
(08:49):
is lead poisoning, resulting from ingestion of ammunition fragments and
carcasses left by hunters. Yeah, let's continue to delve into
the story of the California condor, the largest North American
(09:10):
land bird that disappeared in nature and was declared extinct
in the wild in the late nineteen eighties. We have
two experts joining the conversation to talk about the efforts
people have made to save this species. We're welcoming the
Associate director of Recovery Ecology, Nacho villed Cheese, and Ron Webb,
(09:30):
the lead wildlife care specialists for the Condor project, both
with the San Diego Zoo Wildlife Alliance. So the San
Diego Zoo was the first facility in the world to
hatch a California condor. Nacho, What did it take to
make that possible is a huge amount of effort that
actually began in the late forties. So Bell Benchley, who
(09:53):
was a San Diego Zoo director at the time, and
also Casey Lint who was a curator birch at the time,
first proposed conservation breading of a con doors in nineteen nine.
This proposition came from the success in breeding andian condors
at the San Diego who in the forties. We were
really good at that, but unfortunately Benuley and Lint. We're
not able to gain the consensus of the then condor
(10:13):
biologist community, and so nothing really happened. And fast forward
to thirty five years later in the mid eighties, when
all the condors were brought into conservation breeding programs at
the San Diego Zoo whild Animal Park, or at the
time was called that now there's a Friday Park and
the Los Angeles to thirteen went to l a and
thirteen went to San Diego and the last condor, known
as a C nine, was captured in the eastern Sunday
(10:35):
of so in order to quickly increase the population of
all pairs, the breeding pairs who were encouraged to lay
two eggs. Ron knows much more about this than me,
by removing one egg in early incubations, so females would
lay a replacement egg. And with most of these chicks
were hand raised by keepers using puppets mimicking the condra parents,
which is a tremendous amount of work. And currently chicks
(10:56):
are raised now by their parents because we know that
this provides the best outcomes for in the future when
they're released. What do you think on Yeah, there's a
lot of time and cooperation to help recover the condors.
The Safari Park and the San Diego Zoo were asked
initially to help with the Los Angeles Zoo, and since
then we've brought another partner's the Oregan Zoo in Portlands,
(11:18):
the World Center for Birds of Prey up in Boise, Idaho,
and now that Chapoltepec Zoo in Mexico City were the
five breeding facilities for California condors, and we also work
with several reintroduction organizations at the different release sites, Ventana
Wildlife Society, the Paragrine Fund, Fish and Wildlife Services. Thats
a big team effort to get the condors together, and
(11:39):
we couldn't have done it as just one organization. It's
really interesting to see the cooperation and coordination over the
years to get the efforts that we've put forth to
come to fruition. And not sure what does it mean
to be the associate director of Recovery Ecology. Where does
your role fit into the conservation of the California condor
Whether Sandy Wa Hawaiians I hope run our conservation research
(12:02):
program that works hand in hand with all the five
release sites and Efficient Wildlife Service so We work particularly
close with the release side in Bach, California, where we
work with our Mexican partners to continue to learn as
much as we can about the species and its best
options for recovery. So one big thing that we do
is we provide logistical and financial support to this release
side and to our Mexican partners. And I also helped
(12:23):
coordinate this too. Same question, run, what's your role in
that of your teams? As the lead wildlife care specialists
for the condor project at the Safari Park, we have
about thirty avian wildlife care specialists to take care of
a lot of birds around the park, many different species.
We have a five or six condor care specialists and
I helped coordinate that team and their efforts into achieving
(12:46):
goals that the Seigo Zoo Wildlife Alliance sets as well
as the US Fishing Wildlife Service who oversees the program.
So I helped kind of coordinate the efforts between the
two to reach our goals. Can you give an example
like what might that look like? So how is work
being done at the San Diego Zu Safari Park connected
to the conservation of California condors? Well, every California condor
(13:07):
that's produced at the park. We call it a release candida,
a reintroduction candidate. We expect that bird to be released
back to the wild to join the free flying flock.
Every once a while there's a bird we're asked to
keep it back, whether it's for breeding purposes or I
might have a physical disadvantage, but we start off expecting
every bird to be released. We have a strict release
(13:28):
protocol in which we raise these birds to have a
limited contact with humans. We find that the more familiar
they are with humans before they're released to the wild,
the lower their survivability is, so we try to make
sure we're producing good wild birds that aren't attracted to
human activity. That brings me to my next question, why
is human assistance needed? I'm sure people are possibly wondering
(13:51):
that very question. In the ecology, every species has a
birth rate or hatch rate, or they call it a
replacement rate, at a rate at which lost individuals are
replaced by the members that die, and then there's the
mortality rate, and those two rates kind of work hand
in hand. The California condor is a species has a
very low mortality rate naturally, and therefore it has a
(14:12):
very low replacement rate. When you don't die very often,
there's no need to reproduce very often, and that kind
of keeps the population in check, as opposed to like
a species that dies often, like food sources, rabbits, lizards, ducks,
mice that babies all the time. Because they're getting eaten
all the time, they have a high mortality rate and
they need a high reproductive rate to to keep up
(14:32):
with that. So the condors were cruised along pretty well
there for a few thousand years, and in the last
couple of hundred years, their mortality rate was artificially elevated
because of people, and sometimes it was purposeful persecution and
sometimes it's accidental, and so we've actually artificially elevated at
mortality rate. So fast forward to the present day. What
(14:54):
has happened since the first hatching ron? How many more
hatchings have They're been original we had those fifteen wild
eggs were brought to the San Diego Zoo for artificial
incubation and then hatching, and then since then we started
getting our zoo bred birds the eggs being laid at
the Safari Park. But altogether we've had seven eggs laid
(15:15):
at the Safari Park, and two chicks have hatched between
the zoo and the Safari Park, and um a hundred
sixty eight of those chicks that have hatched have been
released to the wild. So what's the process of preparing
a California condor for release into nature. Yes, so it's
a long lived species. As not to mention earlier, it
(15:37):
takes about eighteen months to reach independence, so it's with
mom and dad for about a year and a half.
It doesn't fly until it's five months of age, so
it's a very long rearing period and mom and dad
both incubate the egg and take care of the chick
at the same time, the one egg in the nest.
Initially we would puppet raise the birds because we didn't
know the compatibility behavioral compatibility of the birds own the
(16:00):
program first started, and so every egg was very valuable,
very rare, and when the numbers were so low, and
so we pulled everything to artificial incubation, we puppet reared
the best we could and then we try to raise
the best behaved birds possible with the known methods, and
over time, thanks to different file just measuring a suitability
(16:21):
for birds after their release, we've been able to tweak
our methods of puppet ring and so they're prehaving just
like parent reared birds. And also too, we've been able
to give the breeding birds at the park opportunities to
raise their own chicks, and now the majority of the
chicks are raised by the parents. They're very impressionable, especially
post fledge when they leave the nest, and so we
(16:43):
don't send them to the release sites until they're about
a year and a half old, and until then they
stay here at the park with a mentor bird living
in a group of young birds. And then there's an
adult bird and that we call the mentor. It's a female.
Her job is to kind of continue the job the
parents started and what the puppe may have started, showing
them how to interact in a group the very social species.
(17:05):
She kind of shows them where they're allowed to perch,
when they're allowed to eat, who they're allowed to sit
next to. Kind of, so she's the boss and she's
kind of showing them the ropes. Um, it's better that
she shows them the ropes rather than a dominant male
that's not gonna be as forgiving out in the wild.
So they all kind of lived together for about a
year or so after they fledge here at the park
(17:25):
and then they're sent to their release sites where their
socialized very shortly with their cohort, and then they're released
to the wild and they kind of trickle in and
they kind of slowly assimilated into the free flying population.
So lastly, what's next and the conservation of the Califerna
condor Nacho, Well, I think the next part is just
to continue conservation breeding. When a lot of releases and
(17:46):
the five release sites soon to be six, I think
that's key, is just to continue that and also to
continue all the conservation research. And also one thing that
we're involved with along with all the other release sites
is that we're working with Mano Ficklenstein for a music
Santa Cruz to revamp an old population viability model that
is gonna better guide us to know what's it gonna
take to recover the species and get it off to
(18:07):
endangered species list or downlisted to threat which is still
a far horizon, but we want to know what's it
gonna take. And having all the survival and mortality numbers
from all release sites into that model is going to
be really helpful to information for all of us, and Ron,
how how will your team fit into this conservation plan.
Our job is to be here to help produce a
(18:29):
nurture some California condors to be reintroduced to the wild,
as many as the Fish Walife Service needs to have
a sustaining population. I was see ourselves as the training
wheels for the species. Species is trying to truck along
nice and securely, and we're on the back kind of
keeping it upright, and then after it's built up some speed,
(18:49):
then we could pop the training wheels off and then
the bike just goes off from the road without us,
and hopefully someday will be put out of a job.
I wouldn't mind having to look for a new job
as long as the California Condra has self sustained population
out there. So, Ron, I understand that there is a
pretty neat way for people at home to get connected
with this project. Can you tell us about the condor cam. Yeah,
(19:11):
we have a camera in one of our nests at
the Safari Park showing up mom and dad. It started
off with them taking care of their egg and their
chick hatched a little while ago, and now they're raising
their chick on camera. And you can tune in any
time and watch the dad. His name is Seucil, and
the mom's name is Antique. They're raising their little chick.
Doesn't have a name yet, but it will get one.
The really fun thing about this year is Antiqui, the mom.
(19:34):
She was raised on Condor Cam back in. Now she's
old enough to have her own kids, and so she's
the Conter Camp star raising more Condra Cam stars. But
it's really fun to watch the progress of the chick
as it's growing, and you can watch some feeding sessions,
watch it picking up mom and dad's neck and they
could kind of discipline it or cuddle with it. It's
really fun to watch the interactions. People normally think of
(19:57):
this vulture this kind of slurping on, blooding, eating everything,
and you can see be so nurturing and loving towards
its chick. It's really fun. It really gets you to
understand little bond, family bond that goes on with something
you don't normally think about with vultures. Wow, that sounds amazing.
We've been talking to Nacho of Cheese and Ron Web
with the San Diego Zoo Wildlife Alliance about the conservation
(20:19):
of the California Condor. Thanks so much for sharing all
of that great information. Thank you, thank you, thanks for listening.
We hope you enjoyed learning about the California Condor, and
be sure to subscribe and tune into next week's episode,
in which we're bringing the story of an animal that
runs so fast you think they'd be hard to spot.
(20:43):
I'm Abdy Money and I'm Rich Schwartz. Thanks for listening.
If you would like to find out more about San
Diego Zoo Wildlife Alliance, please visit sdz w a dot org.
Amazing Wildlife is a production of I Heart Radio. Our
producer is Nikia Swinton and our executive producer is Marci A. Peanut.
Our audio engineer and editor is Sierra Spring. For more
(21:05):
shows from my Heart Radio, check out the I Heart
Radio app, Apple podcast, or wherever you listen to your
favorite shows.
Hosts And Creators
Rick Schwartz
Marco Wendt
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