Watch the Condor Return to its Native Northern California Land After 100 Years

For the first time in 100 years, the endangered condor has returned to Northern California.

During a livestream by the Yurok Tribe, they showed the release of the condors into the Redwood National Park, fulfilling a decades long journey by the tribe to reintroduce the sacred animal into its historical habitat. The video shows the large birds marked “A3” and “A2” fly out of their pen and into the wilderness:

“At around 10:30am this morning two condors were successfully released in Yurok Country, where the culturally and ecologically important birds have been absent for more than a century,” the Yurok Tribe wrote on Facebook. “The birds left the Northern California Condor Restoration Program’s flight pen and immediately started flying over the redwoods. The reintroduction is the result of 15 years of work led by the Yurok Tribe.”

With a wingspan of almost 10 feet, the California condor is the largest soaring land bird in North America. These massive vultures are essential members of their ecosystems and play a significant role in the spiritual and cultural beliefs of the Yurok Tribe, as well as many other Tribes, throughout northern California and the Pacific Northwest. Over the past 14 years, the Yurok Tribe has led this reintroduction effort and completed a tremendous amount of legwork to prepare for the return of condors to the Pacific Northwest.

“For the last 20 years, the Yurok Tribe has been actively engaged in the restoration of the rivers, forests and prairies in our ancestral territory,” said Joseph L. James, Chairman of the Yurok Tribe. “The reintroduction of the condor is one component of this effort to reconstruct the diverse environmental conditions that once existed in our region. We are extremely proud of the fact that our future generations will not know a world without prey-go-neesh. We are excited to work with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and Redwood National Park on the final stages of the project and beyond.”

The reintroduction of condors into the region will help restore balance in the ecosystem of the North Coast. The large vulture will be able to feed on large carcasses like elk and deer, breaking them down and helping smaller scavengers feed on the remains.

The majestic bird is also a crucial cultural representative of the Yurok Tribe. According to elders of the tribe, condors help clean up the world and keep it in balance.

California condors prehistorically ranged from California to Florida and, in contemporary times, from Western Canada to Northern Mexico. By the mid-20th century, condor populations drastically declined due to poaching and poisoning. In 1967, the California condor was listed as endangered. In 1982, only 23 condors survived worldwide. By 1987, all remaining wild condors were placed into a captive breeding program. Thus, began an intensive recovery program to save the species from extinction.

As a result of exemplary conservation partnerships, and intensive captive breeding and reintroduction efforts, there are now over 300 California condors in the wild in California, Arizona, Utah and Baja California. However, the bird is still listed as endangered and lead poisoning (largely caused by ingesting lead shot or fragments of lead bullets when feeding on carcasses) is listed as one of the specie’s primary threats.

“The return of condors to the skies above Redwood National and State Parks is a critical step toward recovery of this majestic landscape,” said Steve Mietz, superintendent of Redwood National and State Parks. “Working with our friends and partners, the Yurok Tribe and U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, we will continue the unparalleled success story of condor recovery allowing all Americans to visit the tallest trees in the world while watching one of the largest birds in the world soar overhead.”

You can watch the entire livestream here:

Active NorCal

Telling the Stories of Northern California

61 Comments

  1. Hi! I understand this is kind of off-topic but I needed to ask.

    Does managing a well-established blog like
    yours take a lot of work? I am completely new to operating a
    blog however I do write in my diary every day. I’d like to start a blog so I can share my experience and feelings online.
    Please let me know if you have any kind of recommendations or tips for brand new aspiring bloggers.

    Thankyou!

  2. Had the United States had the very same policies, they calculated, women’s labor force participation price would have been seven percentage points
    higer by 2010.

  3. I am not sure where you are getting your info, but great
    topic. I needs to spend some time learning more
    or understanding more. Thanks for excellent information I was looking for this information for my mission.

  4. Hello there! I know this is kind of off topic but
    I was wondering if you knew where I could locate a captcha plugin for
    my comment form? I’m using the same blog platform as yours
    and I’m having difficulty finding one? Thanks a lot!

  5. You’re so interesting! I do not think I have read anything like this before.
    So nice to discover someone with original thoughts on this issue.
    Seriously.. thanks for starting this up. This site is one thing that is needed
    on the internet, someone with a little originality!

  6. Aw, this was an exceptionally good post. Spending some time and actual effort to generate a top notch article… but what can I say… I hesitate a lot
    and don’t seem to get anything done.

  7. Hello to all, for the reason that I am actually eager of reading this web site’s post to be updated on a regular basis.
    It consists of fastidious stuff.

  8. What’s up to all, how is the whole thing, I think every one
    is getting more from this web page, and your views are good
    for new people.

  9. Thanks , I’ve recently been searching for information approximately this topic for a long time and yours
    is the greatest I have found out till now. However,
    what concerning the conclusion? Are you certain concerning the supply?

  10. When someone writes an paragraph he/she maintains the plan of a user in his/her mind
    that how a user can understand it. So that’s why this post is perfect.
    Thanks!

  11. We’re a gaggle of volunteers and starting a new
    scheme in our community. Your web site offered us with valuable info to work on. You have performed a
    formidable activity and our entire group can be grateful
    to you.

  12. obviously like your web site but you have to check the spelling on quite a few of
    your posts. A number of them are rife with spelling issues and I
    to find it very troublesome to tell the truth however I’ll definitely come again again.

  13. We’re a group of volunteers and opening a new scheme in our
    community. Your site provided us with valuable information to work on. You have done
    an impressive job and our entire community will be thankful to you.

  14. When I originally commented I clicked the “Notify me when new comments are added” checkbox and now each time a comment is added I get several emails with the same comment.
    Is there any way you can remove me from that service? Thanks!

  15. I needed to thank you for this good read!! I absolutely loved every bit of
    it. I’ve got you book-marked to check out new things you post…

  16. When Fortune asked eight of the largest brick-and-mortar retailers about how they are supporting their
    female workers, the respose was mixed.

  17. Good day! This is kind of off topic but I need some advice from an established blog.

    Is it difficult to set up your own blog?

    I’m not very techincal but I can figure things out pretty quick.
    I’m thinking about setting up my own but I’m not sure where to start.
    Do you have any ideas or suggestions? Thank you

  18. This is very interesting, You are a very skilled blogger. I’ve
    joined your feed and look forward to seeking more of your great post.
    Also, I’ve shared your website in my social networks!

  19. Admiring the persistence you put into your website and detailed information you offer.
    It’s great to come across a blog every once in a while that isn’t the same old rehashed information. Fantastic read!
    I’ve bookmarked your site and I’m adding your RSS feeds to my Google account.

  20. Hey! This post couldn’t be written any better! Reading this post reminds me of my previous room mate!
    He always kept chatting about this. I will forward this page to him.
    Pretty sure he will have a good read. Thank
    you for sharing!

  21. We are a bunch of volunteers and starting a new scheme in our community.
    Your site offered us with helpful information to work on. You have performed
    a formidable activity and our whole group shall be
    thankful to you.

  22. Nice post. I was checking continuously this blog and I am
    impressed! Very useful info specially the last part 🙂 I care for such information much.
    I was seeking this certain info for a long time.
    Thank you and best of luck.

  23. Pretty nice post. I just stumbled upon your blog and wanted to say that I’ve
    really enjoyed surfing around your blog posts. In any case I will be subscribing to your rss feed and
    I hope you write again soon!

  24. I do agree with all of the ideas you have presented in your post.
    They’re really convincing and can definitely work.
    Nonetheless, the posts are very brief for newbies.
    May you please extend them a little from next time? Thank you for the post.

  25. Every weekend i used to pay a quick visit this
    site, for the reason that i wish for enjoyment, for the reason that this this site conations really fastidious funny material too.

  26. Wow, incredible weblog layout! How lengthy have you been running a blog for?
    you made running a blog look easy. The entire glance of your website is excellent, let alone the content!
    You can see similar: najlepszy sklep and here sklep online

  27. I’m really enjoying the design and layout of
    your website. It’s a very easy on the eyes which makes it much more enjoyable for me to come here and visit more often. Did you hire
    out a developer to create your theme? Outstanding work!
    I saw similar here: sklep internetowy and also here:
    e-commerce

  28. Hey there just wanted to give you a quick heads up.
    The words in your post seem to be running off the screen in Firefox.
    I’m not sure if this is a formatting issue or something to do with browser compatibility but I
    figured I’d post to let you know. The design look great though!
    Hope you get the issue fixed soon. Thanks

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.

Back to top button