Endangered California Condors in Danger.

Over the past couple of weeks I have been receiving e-mails from the Ventana Wildlife Society about the dire situation that several of the California condor nests, that they monitor, are facing due to the wildfire situation in California. The Ventana Wildlife Society has been working hard since 1996 to bring the endangered California condor back from the brink of extinction. Unfortunately the fires that are currently raging in central California have been a major set back.

The society has been monitoring 3 condor nests that have produced chicks this year in the Big Sur area. One of these nests has already been over taken by the fires and it is possible that the chick has perished. At this point there is no way to tell until they can get back into the area, but things do not look good as the area around the nest was intensely burned.

The other two nests, which are located on cliffs along the coast, are still in the potential path of the fire. Ventana considered pulling the chicks out of the nest, on Tuesday, but decided against the rescue plan because poor visibility, due to smoke and fog, made it too dangerous for both the chicks and the rescue crews. So right now they wait and they hope.

If the chicks do not survive the fire it will be a tragedy. The current California condor world population is 315 birds, with 43 living in the Central California, Big Sur area. So if the 3 birds do not make it, that is the loss of almost 1% of the worlds population. If you were to translate that to human terms it would be comparable to the death of approximately 65 million people.

Here is an article from the Mercury News, from Silicon Valley, about the condos. The article is off a bit on the population figures, the ones in this post are ones that were provided by Ventana Wildlife Society so they are accurate, but it does provide a bit more info.

More good news for the California condor.

Yesterday I received an e-mail from the Ventana Wildlife Society with some good news for the endangered California condor. Currently the main issue facing the condors is lead poisoning. This typically comes from eating carcases and gut piles left by hunters. The carcases usually have some part of the ammunition left inside of it and that ammunition contains lead. It only takes a very small particle of lead to kill a condor, this is the same issue we have with eagles up here in the north.

Earlier this year Ventana, and other friends and advocates of the California condor, helped to get bill AB821 signed into law in California. This bill makes it illegal to hunt using led ammunition in areas that are designated condor habitat. This was a huge victory especially since the NRA and other pro gun groups were involved. But the victory does not end there. Lat week the California Fish and Game Commission voted 3 to 1 to adopt new hunting regulations.

These new regulations make it unlawful not only to hunt with lead ammunition in the protected zones but it will now also be unlawful to have lead ammunition in your possession while hunting in these areas.

The second part of the new regulations makes it unlawful to hunt with lead ammunition using a .22 caliber or smaller gun. Smaller caliber guns were not included in AB821 because there is no non lead ammunition available for these weapons. The Fish and Game Commission determined that the market will adjust to the new regulations and manufacturers will begin to make non lead ammunition for the smaller caliber weapons.

This is not only a victory for the condors, Ventana, and all of us who care for our fine feathered friends, this is a victory for us all. Lead is not only poison to condors and eagles, it is poison to the environment and to us too. We get all up in arms about lead painted objects coming to the US from China but then turn around and pollute our own environment with this lead ammunition.

The new law and regulations should help out the condors but we still have a long way to go to resolve the lead issue, and other pollutants, everywhere. If you would like more information, here is the press release from the Ventana.

How can you help save the condors and possibly experience a once in a lifetime adventure?

The Ventana Wildlife Society, located in central California, is holding an online auction to help raise money to continue to fund their worth while goals. The Ventana Wildlife Society began in 1986 by releasing eagles into the Big Sur area. In 1992 they built the Big Sur Ornithology Lab as a year round long term avian monitoring station for the California coast and in 1996 they began a program to reintroduce the endangered California condor back into central California.

It takes $16,000 per month to care for the wild condors and Ventana does not receive any federal or state aid. They have been successful, in their extremely important mission, for over 10 years because people with a conscience, who care about the world we live in and do not want to see another species go extinct have helped to support their cause.

Now it is my turn and yours to join the fight to help the condor survive. Please go to their online sight and, if you can, bid on one of the fantastic items that they have up for bid. The big ticket item is the ability to release a condor into the wild. There are also other items including a Big Sur Eco Experience and a couple of pieces of artwork. You can get more info and bid on the items here http://www.cmarket.com/auction/AuctionHome.action?vhost=ventanaws.

If you decide not to bid on anything then please consider a Ventana Wildlife Society membership, which begin at only $50 or adopting a condor chick which also begins at $50.