Update from Pinnacles: Baby condor removed to urgent care

Those of you who eagerly read about the baby condor born at Pinnacles  will be sad to hear the latest news. The 50+ day old chick had excessive levels of lead in its body, and after attempting to treat it in the nest, biologists decided that the chick had to be removed to urgent care if it was going to live. The parents were also tested, and it was discovered that the father condor also had high lead levels and was removed to the Los Angeles Zoo for emergency care.

This just shows how delicate this program is. While the condors are slowly coming back, it seems that we haven't cleaned up our environment enough to provide safe food in the wild for them.

Let's be clear. This is more than a question of the future of this unique bird that has flown the earth since prehistoric times. Yes, once a species is lost, it's lost forever. And as Prince says, forever is a mighty long time. But it's also a question of what humans are doing to the earth to make it uninhabitable for other species.  

Which leads to a profoundly important question: if our world is poisoned for other animals, is it also poisoned for us? Lead poisoning is well documented as effecting humans, especially children, causing learning disabilities, mental retardation, and even death in extreme cases.

Why can't we recognize that taking care of the environment is also taking care of ourselves?  Sorry, I know I'm on a soapbox here, but I can't help it.

Please - if you hunt - choose bullets that don't have lead in them. It's such an easy choice for a big environmental payoff.

Here's the press release from Pinnacles, in its entirety:

  Pinnacles National Monument                  News Release

Release:          FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Release Date:     05/13/2010
Contact:
      Daniel George, Condor Program Manager, Pinnacles National Monument
      daniel_george@nps.gov
   Kelly Sorenson, Executive Director, Ventana Wildlife Society:
      kellysorenson@ventanaws.org


Wild Condor Chick Evacuated from Pinnacles National Monument due to Lead

Exposure




Pinnacles National Monument – Condor biologists at Pinnacles National


Monument and Ventana Wildlife Society tracking the health of a wild condor


nestling (chick) in the park discovered last week that the bird had


extremely high levels of lead in its blood. Park Service biologists then


trapped the parent male, condor 318, and discovered he also has toxic


levels of lead in his blood.





    The adult condor was immediately taken to the Los Angeles Zoo for


chelation (a treatment to remove lead from the body) while the 50-day old


chick was treated by veterinarians and condor biologists in the nest during


early morning climbs into the rocky cliff cavern.





    Although the adult female continued to care for its young and the


nestling received several emergency chelation and hydrating fluid


injections, the young condor’s health degraded further.  As a result,


biologists decided yesterday that, for the survival of the nestling, it


needed to be evacuated for intensive care.





    National Park Service and Ventana Wildlife Society biologists are


trying to trap the adult female of this pair to determine if she too has


been exposed to lead.





    Hundreds of park visitors over the past two months have enjoyed the


rare opportunity to witness an active condor nest in the wild. For those


interested in expressing thoughts on this story, please visit the Pinnacles


National Monument website, www.nps.gov/pinn, and use the “Contact Us” link.







    This condor nest was the first inside Pinnacles National Monument


since re-establishment efforts began there in 2003 and the first documented


nest in the park in over one hundred years.





    Pinnacles National Monument will keep the temporary closure area


around the nest in place until biologists determine whether the nestling


can be returned to the wild.








Additional Facts


  Parent Condor 318 was originally released along the Big Sur coast by


     Ventana Wildlife Society, while parent condor 317 was released at


     Pinnacles National Monument.


  The National Park Service and Ventana Wildlife Society collaborate to


     manage the central California flock of 52 condors.


  More information on the National Park Service program can be found at:


     www.nps.gov/pinn/naturescience/condors


  More information on Ventana Wildlife Society’s program can be found at:


     www.ventanaws.org/species_condors


  Chelation is a process used in condors in which calcium EDTA, a chemical


     that binds with heavy metals, is injected into the animals to prevent


     retention of lead in the tissues.


  Condors are exclusively scavengers, feeding on a wide range of dead


     mammals.


  Hunting plays a key role in the condor ecology by generating food


     resources for these critically endangered scavengers.


  Prior research has established that the principle source of lead


     exposures among condors is lead ammunition. For more information,


     see: www.ucsc.edu/news_events/press_releases/text.asp?pid=927


  Shooters who have made the switch to non-lead ammunition have made an


     invaluable contribution to the health of scavenging wildlife.


  Lead Ammunition has been banned in a wide region of central and southern


     California. For more information, please see:


     www.dfg.ca.gov/wildlife/hunting/condor


  There are four captive rearing facilities involved in Condor Recovery –


     The Los Angeles Zoo, The San Diego Wild Animal Park, The Oregon Zoo,


     and the Peregrine Fund’s World Center for Birds of Prey in Boise,


     Idaho


  There are five condor release sites in western North America – Pinnacles


     National Monument operated by the National Park Service, Big Sur


     Coast operated by the Ventana Wildlife Society, Bitter Creek National


     Wildlife Refuge operated by the US Fish and Wildlife Service,


     Vermillion Cliffs operated by the Peregrine Fund, and El Parque


     Nacional San Pedro Mártir in Baja California – a joint venture of the


     Zoological Society of San Diego and several Mexican agencies and


     organizations.


  Video information related to condor recovery efforts at Pinnacles


     national Monument can be found at:


     www.nps.gov/pinn/naturescience/condor_video