BajaNomad

California Condor, A Conservation Story

mtgoat666 - 1-10-2022 at 08:12 PM

Cóndor de California, una Historia de Conservación




https://www.msicilia.net/condor2020

https://youtu.be/98lyXPfk40s

https://www.proyectocondor.mx/




[Edited on 1-11-2022 by mtgoat666]

100X - 1-10-2022 at 08:26 PM

The conservation/come-back of the California Condor is indeed a great story.

Friends of mine recently witnessed a pair in Utah!

JZ - 1-10-2022 at 08:49 PM

Looks interesting. Will check it out.

BigOly - 1-10-2022 at 08:56 PM

I've seen Condors in the Andes. This one I shot about a mile away in Utah years ago.

John Harper - 1-11-2022 at 06:18 AM

I grew up in Fillmore, used to see them fly occasionally before they were taken for breeding in San Diego. One of my friend's was related to the Hopper family, where they established the refuge. Very rugged and remote terrain with Hopper Creek flowing through. We used to backpack in for wild trout, but a couple of devastating fires in the 80's wiped out the trout due to ash and mud. They built the condor station at the old Hopper Ranch homestead, which used to be a party place for some of the old ranchers in the area.

The original road up Tom's Canyon to the homestead got washed out, so now the access road comes from the west, over on the Fillmore side from Sespe and Tar Creek drainages.

I still have an old topo map showing the Tom's Canyon road to the ranch, and marked where we used to camp for trout fishing.

John

[Edited on 1-11-2022 by John Harper]

BajaBlanca - 1-11-2022 at 07:35 AM

Amazing bird. I have posted a link to the youtube video to my facebook since so many of our Mexican friends will now see it. I want them to esp hear the line where even the vultures play a critical part in the ecosystem! Every living being has an important role,

BajaMama - 1-11-2022 at 01:59 PM

We saw a pair of released condors in Grand Canyon NP years and years ago. Did our hearts good!

Don Pisto - 1-11-2022 at 03:38 PM

used to see em routinely Boy Scouting in Sespe, im told eating trash and drinking antifreeze did em in, don't know?

BigOly - 1-11-2022 at 05:38 PM

My thinking when I was a kid (65 years ago) was that if it moved it was fair game, shame on me. Back when I lived in California there were cages of Condors, probably had been injured, by a pizza place in Ojai(sp) my family visited. While the grownups were drinking beer, my brother and I would sneak down under these tall cages and shoot our lever action bee bee guns at the condors. The bee bees just bounced off them and now I'm so glad they did. A different life ago.

[Edited on 1-12-2022 by BigOly]

[Edited on 1-12-2022 by BigOly]

John Harper - 1-11-2022 at 05:57 PM

Quote: Originally posted by BigOly  
My thinking when I was a kid (65 years ago) was that if it moved it was fair game, shame on me. Back when I lived in California there was cages of Condors, probably had been injured, by a pizza place in Ohji(sp) my family visited. While the grownups were drinking beer, my brother and I would sneak down under these tall cages and shoot our lever action bee bee guns at the condors. The bee bees just bounced off them and now I'm so glad they did. A different life ago.


It's Ojai, and yes, I've seen old photographs of condors shot down. Also, could have just been turkey vultures, they are more abundant. Our culture was different back then. I'm glad it's more aware of conservation. I used to take my limit of trout, now I can't recall the last trout I've kept, as I release all. And enjoy the experience even more!

John


[Edited on 1-12-2022 by John Harper]

mtgoat666 - 1-11-2022 at 07:41 PM

Quote: Originally posted by Don Pisto  
used to see em routinely Boy Scouting in Sespe, im told eating trash and drinking antifreeze did em in, don't know?


Biggest cause of death was condors eating spent lead ammo. But they also ate other human wastes that caused deaths too, like trash, anti-freeze, poisoned carcasses, etc.; and lots of knuckleheads indiscriminately shot the birds too, just for the “fun” of killing :no::mad::(:barf::fire:

Lead shot, bullets are bad for animals when they ingest the lead. That is why lead banned for hunting in CA and other places.

[Edited on 1-12-2022 by mtgoat666]

100X - 1-11-2022 at 07:47 PM

Isn't the main issue with lead it falling into bodies of water, for instance when duck hunting?

Do animals actually decide to taste, then not being able to chew the stuff, just ingest it?

mtgoat666 - 1-11-2022 at 07:52 PM

Quote: Originally posted by 100X  
Isn't the main issue with lead it falling into bodies of water, for instance when duck hunting?

Do animals actually decide to taste, then not being able to chew the stuff, just ingest it?


Several routes of injection, here is text from ABC:

An estimated 16 million birds are poisoned by lead every year. Some birds, like Bald Eagles, accidentally ingest lead shotgun pellets and ammunition fragments when scavenging on carcasses or remains left by hunters.

Other birds such as Mourning Doves mistake spent shot for seed in fields and forests, while diving birds like Common Loons swallow lead fishing tackle while foraging on lake bottoms.

100X - 1-11-2022 at 08:35 PM

The stuff is certainly all over the place. Lead in paint until 1978 (which is not eradicated but merely painted over to seal it in), in gasoline until about the same time, in some imported products such as plates and their glazes until very recently, and in solder for our copper piping/drinking water until just a few years ago (California--some states may still allow it). It is likely now endemic in the soil and I would assume then washed into the waterways.

When in dust/airborne form it can be breathed in, and no doubt when ingested will at least partly be absorbed by our organs. I do wonder how much of an ingested pellet would be absorbed and how much would be excreted as undigested waste. I will ask Google.

BigOly - 1-11-2022 at 08:39 PM

The pesticide DDT caused death to many birds. The egg shells became too weak and crushed when the parent sat on them. This pesticide was banned for use in the U.S. in 1972 but still caused great harm for years.

100X - 1-11-2022 at 08:42 PM

I definitely remember the DDT problem.

LancairDriver - 1-12-2022 at 12:25 AM

A good friend of mine is from an old Ventura County ranching family. He told me the Ranchers were tired of loosing livestock to Coyotes and poisoned some dead cattle trying to target the Coyotes. Instead they wiped a large number of Condors out. Must have been late 50’s or early 60’s era.This was supposed to be a large cause of their almost becoming extinct. I used to fly many trips between Camarillo and Bakersfield for the Caterpillar dealer in the 80’s and frequently came very close to the few still flying Condors over the mountains.