For Immediate UseContact: Garrison Frost
August 6, 2008(323) 951-9620

Portland, OR – A concerted effort from government and non-profit agencies begun in the early 1980s to bring the California Condor back from the brink of extinction has been more successful than many in the field ever thought it would be, according to a report released today from a blue ribbon panel of the American Ornithologists’ Union. However, unless the primary threat to the condor – lead in its food chain – is removed, the endangered bird will continue to rely upon substantial support from humans if it is to survive.

The program, which initially removed condors from the wild and continues to rely on substantial human intervention and support, was considered highly controversial among experts when the last condor was removed from the wild in 1987. After more than two decades of groundbreaking work, more than 300 California Condors exist today, half of which are in the wild.

“The Condor has really come a long way,” said Jeffrey Walters, PhD, chair of the AOU panel. “But just as it likely was poisoning from lead in the environment that brought the condor to the brink of extinction 20 years ago, it is certainly lead that today stands in the way of the condor surviving in nature without substantial support from humans.”

Condors rely on animal carcasses – including those left behind by hunters – for nourishment, and risk ingesting dangerously high levels of lead from ammunition left in the meat. Given that hunters provide a much-needed source of food for condors, the panel’s report calls for additional promotion of sport hunting for large game and depredation hunting for feral pigs in condor habitat, but at the same time it calls for the elimination of lead ammunition in the range of the Condor – across state borders in California, New Mexico, Arizona and Utah.

The independent panel’s report is based upon a 12-month review of the condor recovery program, which included site visits to breeding facilities and release sites, literature reviews, interviews with key personnel, and further input from experts in condor biology and conservation. The report was requested by Audubon California and support through funds from the National Fish and Wildlife Foundation, the Morgan Family Foundation and others.

The full report, as well as a summary of its recommendations, can be viewed at aou.org or ca.audubon.org.

While the report recognizes the accomplishments of the Condor Recovery Program, the panel makes several recommendations that it believes will position the program for even greater success. The first of these is organizational: the creation of a U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service Condor Recovery Office that would coordinate all of the various condor-related efforts, as well as an independent Scientific Advisory Team, and groups to coordinate recovery implementation and policy advocacy.

“It’s important that this priority effort operate at a higher level with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service,” said Walters. “Moreover, this new organizational structure will enable the program partners to do their work more effectively and according to the best available science.”

The report describes how other issues in the program trace back to the lead problem. For example, the birds are provided with food subsidies to keep them away from lead-contaminated carcasses, and this interferes with development of normal foraging patterns.  The report recommends greater attention to address the parental feeding of trash to chicks among condors in the wilds of southern California, as well as investigation into the potential threat from contaminants from feeding on marine mammals in central California.

“The California Condor is in many ways the state’s signature bird for conservation,” said Graham Chisholm, Audubon California’s director of bird conservation. “Now that we’ve moved beyond our original goal, which was simply to keep the bird from disappearing, we want to make sure that we’re doing what’s necessary to get the bird thriving in the wild without human assistance.”

About the American Ornithologists’ Union

Founded in 1883, the American Ornithologists' Union is the oldest organization in the New World devoted to the scientific study of birds. The AOU is the largest and most diverse ornithological society, with over 3500 members. Although primarily an organization for professional ornithologists, it welcomes to its ranks many students, conservationists, birders and others who cherish the birds of the world. More at: www.aou.org.

About Audubon California 

Audubon California is building a better future for California by bringing people together to appreciate, enjoy and protect our spectacular outdoor treasures. Audubon California is a field program of Audubon, which has more than 50,000 members in California and an affiliated 48 local chapters dedicated to protecting birds, wildlife and the habitats that support them.  More at www.ca.audubon.org.