Greenwire: Biologists celebrated the successful hatch of a California condor chick in a federal park, a sign of the slow recovery of the species. The March 24 hatch at Pinnacles National Monument in central California was the first in more than a century.
However, the celebration was muted because the egg did not belong to any of the adult birds in the park. It came from a pair of condors in the San Diego Wildlife Park captive breeding program. Attempts to mate two condors within the park were unsuccessful; the embryo of an egg conceived in March died seven days into development.
The egg-sitting process was the first to be viewed by the public since the condor recovery program began. Biologists had to be careful to watch the eggs, which can be accidentally destroyed by the condors and their 10-foot wingspans. The scientists also wanted to ensure that the birds did not get discouraged by an unsuccessful mating attempt, since they are hoping to rebuild the population.
In 1982, scientists placed the last 22 California condors in breeding programs. The population now stands at 350, but the birds are threatened by hunters and lead poisoning from bullets left in carcasses. Young condors are often captured and raised in breeding programs because the wild birds can come too close to humans.
Biologists will perform tests on the hatchling over the next week to determine its sex. It will live with its parents for a year, and the adults will wait another two years before producing a new egg (Tracie Cone, Associated Press, April 7). – JP