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California condors The condors have been observed to fly long distances, but they generally have remained within the greater Grand Canyon ecosystem. Recently, some members of the population have been making regular flights to the vicinity of Zion National Park and spending a portion of their year there. The goal of the California Condor Recovery Plan is to establish two geographically separate, self-sustaining populations — a primary population in California and the other outside of California, each with 150 birds and at least 15 breeding pairs. The Sierra Club Grand Canyon Chapter recently submitted comments on the Five-Year Review of the reintroduction effort (244 KB pdf). For more information about the California condor program in Arizona, go to: www.peregrinefund.org or www.fws.gov/arizonaes or www.azgfd.gov/w_c/california_condor.shtml.
Sierra Club, Grand Canyon Chapter, 202 E. McDowell Rd, Suite 277, Phoenix, AZ 85004, (602) 253-8633
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California
condors are a unique, wondrous bird species that went missing from the
Grand Canyon region for years. The condor reintroduction program is a
great success story for the Endangered Species Act. Since initiation
of the Arizona project in December 1996, 90 condors have been released
into the wild in northern Arizona. The reintroduction program has
also produced five young hatched in the wild. Currently, 56 free-flying
condors are in the northern Arizona/southern Utah population, including
four young that have hatched in the wild. However, reintroduction
efforts have been complicated by lead poisonings, bird-human interactions,
and shootings. Thirty-three released birds have died and three
have been returned to indefinite captivity.