Very little was known about them, and at the time, no one had experience with such a program. The plan was to reproduce the California Condor in captivity, and while the causes that led to their near extinction were corrected, they would be re-introduced into the wild to repopulate their original territories.
The idea of catching them seemed risky and bold. The California Condor, beyond being the largest North American bird, has a religious and magical significance for the ancestral and modern cultures of its country. A bold, but risky plan to save the California condor
#ANDEAN CONDOR FULL#
The mountains, rising at the edge of a sea with colonies of sea lions and whale bones stranded in time, in the middle of a desert full of attractive animals, such as the tiny Sechura foxes and coral snakes, were the dream of a young biologist. Photo credit: Fernando Angulo.įurthermore, feral populations of donkeys and goats, introduced animals of unknown origin, were known to exist there. The soon-to-be-declared Illescas National Reserve. To get there you had to be very well equipped. Just a stretch of 200 kilometers of a completely pristine beach, the longest in Peru. What made it even more appealing was that, from that point of the northern coast where the Humboldt current flows away from the mainland in the direction to the Galapagos Islands, there were no towns or roads to or from the nearest city, Chiclayo. It was the only known site on the coast where the Andean Condor nested. In the 1980s, the Illescas peninsula was one of those almost inaccessible places, with a surreal air about it. With the technical support of scientists, led by the San Diego Zoo, they proceeded to capture them all. Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS) decided to act. When only 22 of them remained in the wild, flying freely in the skies of North America (in addition to some in captivity), the U.S. Others, practical and stubborn, believed that they could be saved and that it was necessary to act quickly and radically. Some said that extinction was inevitable, and, as a matter of respect, we should let the species go in peace. At the time, there was a bitter discussion about what to do. The annual censuses showed a significant drop in numbers. Photo by Enrique Ortizīy the late 1970s, it was clear that the California Condor was on its way to disappearing, as a result of poisoning, hunting, and habitat destruction. It was as if that condor had come to greet me … and whisper something in my ear.
And two, was that back in the early 1980’s, Illescas and I were directly involved with its survival mission. It was an extraordinary event because, one, it is a very rare species which “miraculously” was saved from extinction. Out of nowhere, a California Condor appeared with a number written on a plastic plate attached to its wing, perching a few feet from me. The views expressed are those of the author, not necessarily Mongabay.Ī few years ago, alone on the top of a mountain in Zion National Park, in Utah, USA, I had an almost mystical experience that immediately transported me to the Illescas Peninsula, in Piura, Peru. The Spanish version of this piece originally appeared on Mongabay-Latam.The Illescas wilderness will soon be officially protected as Illescas National Reserve, a development which spurred Enrique Ortiz, Senior Program Director at the Andes Amazon Fund, to recount the story of how Andean Condors helped save the California Condor.The California Condor narrowly dodged extinction in the 1980s thanks to conservation efforts involving Andean Condors reintroduced to Peru’s Illescas peninsula.Finally, our research seeks to better understand the links between condors and their native food species, to inform broader conservation schemes involving suites of species in the region. We also assist park rangers to monitor condor roosting and nesting sites to keep track of population status. We work with livestock producers and government agencies to improve populations of the Andean condor’s natural food species and to reduce the use of poisons to control carnivores throughout Patagonia. They are also hunted by people who believe they are frequent hunters and kill their livestock. In the Patagonian and Andean Steppes, these scavengers used to consume guanaco and vicuña carcasses almost exclusively, but they now feed also on remains of livestock and introduced species such as European hare and red deer.Īndean condors have been extirpated from much of Patagonia because they consume poisoned livestock that are placed by producers to kill predators.
Condors have become rare in northern South America due to hunting and habitat loss, but remain present in Patagonia and abundant in certain areas. The majestic Andean condor is one of the world’s largest flying birds, with an 11-foot wingspan and up to 33 pounds in weight.
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