California Condors at Pinnacles National Park

A few of the California condors (Gymnogyps californianus) encountered in the High Peaks area of Pinnacles National Park in San Benito County, California over the past few years. Some were released as part of the Pinnacles condor recovery program, others -- those with names in addition to numbers -- were released by the Ventana Wildlife Society in the vicinity of Big Sur. The two flocks have intermingled and many of the Ventana birds spend much of their time in Pinnacles National Park. Unfortunately Pinnacles seems to be a hot spot for exposure to lead through spent ammunition (though lead is the primary killer in almost all areas where condors have been reintroduced) and risk of lead poisoning is high, which means that life is short for many of the condors who frequent the area. Even though California banned lead ammunition effective in July of 2019, it remains the primary cause of condor mortality. While there are more than 500 condors alive today (bred in captivity from the last 27 individuals taken from the wild in 1987), without constant intervention, testing and chelation -- and the annual reintroduction of captive bred birds -- populations remain unsustainable and birds with a 50 year lifespan are lucky to survive into their teens.

Condor 726 "Little Stinker" has become a fixture in my condor viewing and the last time I visited Pinnacles on the Winter Solstice 692 - Little Stinker's mate - showed up twice at High Peaks. Once at about noon, again at sunset, and Little Stinker was absent. I hope that she was taken into captivity to be treated for lead-poisoning, but I fear that she's become a victim to lead. One of my New Year's hopes is that she gets through the poisoning. Hopefully I'm wrong in making the assumption that she's out of circulation.

The audio is Rêve d'Enfant, Op. 14 performed by Jean-Claude Féret, composed by Eugène Ysaÿe and obtained from musopen.org.

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