The top California Condor in this shot was coming in for a landing and apparently wanted the spot on which the bottom condor had been perched. So the lower condor politely vacated the premises.
At the time I took this shot, in Northern Arizona, on March 13, 2023, I had no idea that the avian flu had already struck the Arizona/Utah flock of California Condors. The first sick bird had been discovered just four days earlier on March 9.
Out of approximately 115 condors in the Utah-Arizona flock, a total of 21 died of the disease. To do the math for you, that’s about 18% of that flock and 6% of all 336 wild and free California Condors (there are still around 200 in captivity, some of which will be released at future dates).
Some estimates are that this event set the recovery effort for this species back a decade.
No deaths have been recorded since April and no more sick birds have been found. Encouragingly, a vaccine for the avian flu has been approved for use in California Condors, and trials have begun.
Condors are highly susceptible to contagious disease, because of their community roosting and their community feeding behaviors.
I don’t know if either or both of the two condors pictured here were part of the 20 who succumbed to the disease. I choose to think not.
Kudos to Bernie Boutin who figured out that I might be posting a Condor shot today.
Tags: california condor Gymnogyps californianus endangered species nine foot wingspan raptor scavenger avian flu cornell lab audubon birds nature conservation marble canyon protect the environment protect public lands protect wildlife
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Earlier this year Avian Flu struck a flock of critically endangered California Condors. By mid-April, 20 birds (one out of every six in the northern Arizona/southern Utah flock) had died. The first sick birds were found only about three weeks after this shot was taken. Losing that many birds so suddenly set the recovery and reintroduction program back a decade.
Fortunately, no condors have been found sick or dead since April 11. So, for now, the crisis has ebbed.
The organizations which have worked together to reintroduce the condors had the foresight to consider the potential of contagious disease. Today condors have been reintroduced into geographically dispersed locations, the mountains of southern California north of the Los Angeles basin, the Big Sur vicinity of the central California coast, northern Arizona/southern Utah, and in the mountains of Baja California. This reduces the likelihood of an outbreak of disease threatening the entire population.
A bit of good news, the U.S. Department of Agriculture has approved emergency use of a vaccine to immunize against avian flu, which is being tested in vultures and will soon be given to three condors before proceeding to attempt to vaccinate all the flocks. That will be a monumental task but the people working to save the species will stop at nothing to protect them. And because of them, this condor can represent his species in echoing that song…”I Will Survive.”
Tags: california condor Gymnogyps californianus critically endangered cornell lab audubon birds peregrine fund 9.5 foot wingspan nature conservation raptor scavenger protect the environment protect public lands protect wildlife
© All Rights Reserved
© All Rights Reserved
© All Rights Reserved