The California Condor Recovery Program
is built upon an essential foundation of private and public
partnerships. The recovery goal for the condor is to establish
a captive population of 150 birds and two separate wild
populations of condors, one in California and the other
in Arizona. California
Condor captive breeding programs are operated at San Diego
Wild Animal Park, Los Angeles Zoo, and The Peregrine Fund's
World Center for Birds of Prey. Release programs in California
are managed by the Ventana Wilderness Society, and Hopper
Mountain National Wildlife Refuge, and in Arizona, The
Peregrine Fund. Primarily, the funding for the program
comes from the
private sector with support from the federal government.
Coordination and implementation of the recovery program
and oversight of
all program partners is done by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife
Service and the California Condor Recovery Team.
The
California Condor Recovery Team is an advisory
group to the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, providing
technical expertise
and a scientific foundation for the program. The group
includes scientists with a broad range of expertise
from captive propagation
and releasing avian species in the wild to environmental
contaminants. As the focal point for the program,
the team assists partners
in sharing ideas and developing new approaches for management
of captive and free-flying California condors.
As
the original wild population was brought into captivity,
captive
condor flocks were established at San Diego Wild Animal
Park and Los Angeles Zoo. The first successful captive
breeding
occurred in 1988. In 1992, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service
began the reintroduction of condors back into the wild
near
Hopper Mountain National Wildlife Refuge in southern California.
The nonprofit Peregrine Fund's World Center for Birds
of Prey,
in Boise, Idaho, started captive breeding in 1993. A second
release program began in 1996 in northern Arizona operated
by the
Peregrine Fund. In January 1997, releases along California's
central coast were initiated. The Ventana Wilderness
Society
manages this condor flock, supported by private grants
and donations.
For a complete breakdown of the condor
numbers, click here
For
a copy of the California Condor Recovery Plan, please contact:
Fish
and Wildlife Reference Service
5430 Grosvenor Lane, Suite 110
Bethesda, Maryland 20814
Phone:
(301) 492-3421 or 1-800-582-3421
