Sunday, March 8, 2009
Endangered Condors: Four young California condors arrived at the Santa Barbara Zoo early Friday to their new home in a hilltop complex due to open on Earth Day, April 22.
The two females and two male juveniles were driven by the zoo staff nearly 900 miles from the captive breeding facility in snowy Boise, Idaho, and will be on 30-day quarantine at the zoo’s Condor Country exhibit in the new $7.5 million California Trails complex.
Three of the unnamed Santa Barbara birds are descended from AC3, the female bird displayed in the Museum of Natural History, according to the zoo. “AC3 was never captured, but died in the wild of lead poisoning in 1984. AC3 is their great-grand dam." (The terms dam and sire are used to describe condor ancestors.) There are no plans for breeding at the zoo at this time.
From File
The Santa Barbara Zoo becomes one of only three zoos in the world to display the endangered California condor, joining Condor Ridge at the San Diego Wild Animal Park and the Chapultepec Zoo in Mexico City.
All four brought here were born at the Peregrine Fund’s World Center for Birds of Prey in Boise within the two-week April 12-24 period last year. All but one female were reared by their parents; the fourth was raised by condor foster parents.
“It was emotionally moving to go to the World Center and see the condors,” said zoo CEO Rich Block in a news release. “They have 18 breeding pairs and a ton of young birds, nearly 60 condors total.” The birds were transported in large crates, two in the Santa Barbara Zoo’s Conservation Land Rover and two in a rented van.
“This is the result of discussions with the Recovery Team that started 10 years ago,” Block said. “We’ve built relationships and created a remarkable program and now condors are coming to Santa Barbara. We are making a difference.” The condor exhibit was designed in collaboration with the California Condor Recovery Team, which determines which birds are housed, released, and/or bred.
The zoo’s director of conservation, Estelle Sandhaus, said that condors are “playful and rowdy” at this age. They won’t display the distinctive red coloration on their faces until they are mature, which is around ages six to eight, she said. The four condors will be on view in a spacious hilltop aviary overlooking part of their historic range, the Santa Ynez Mountains.
Plans for the Santa Barbara Zoo's new exhibit
The Santa Barbara exhibit has more than 6,000 square feet and encompasses 174,000 cubic feet of “glide space.” There are redwoods and oaks, wood “snags,” and a stream that fills two different pools. Studies show that condors bathe and spend hours smoothing and drying their feathers.
Known for their massive wing span, which average nine-and-a-half feet, California condors have recovered from the brink of extinction. Numbering only 22 individuals in 1984, there are now 321 birds, with more than half of the population flying free.
Also part of the new California Trails complex are other endangered or threatened species found in Santa Barbara’s “backyard,” including Channel Island fox, desert tortoise, bald eagle, plus reptiles and amphibians from Los Padres National Forest. It is the largest construction project in the zoo’s 48-year history.
Barney Brantingham can be reached at barney@independent.com or (805) 965-5205. He writes online columns and a print column on Thursdays.