A baby California condor hatched on May 9 at Liberty Wildlife, a wildlife rehabilitation, education and conservation organization in Phoenix, Arizona.Hatching is a ray of hope and welcome good news for species in distress. it has only recently recovered from the brink of extinction.
that’s all 22 condors were thought to be alive later in the 1980s Maelstrom Habitat loss, poaching, lead poisoning incidents from power lines, the pesticide DDT, etc. About 275 wild birds currently roam the skies around California, Utah, Arizona and Baja California, Mexico, and more than 160 have been captured. 400 people live around the world.
[Related: Inside the Yurok Tribe’s mission to make critically endangered condors thrive.]
The largest bird in North America and an important part of the ecosystem, the California condor is considered sacred to many indigenous peoples.Yurok Nation of the Pacific Northwest We call the California Condor the “neeche that goes prey.” From time immemorial, birds have been associated with Yurok Halkerona, the cultural and ecological landscape. The tribe has officially been the driving force behind the reintroduction of the Condor since 2008.
Now these sacred and important birds face a grave threat in the form of small pathogens. highly pathogenic avian influenza (H5N1), also known as bird flu, is threatening the Condor at an alarming rate. First detected in California condors in late March, Over 20 people are known to have died Ever since.
“Especially for an endangered species like the California condor, it has the ability to wipe out entire species,” says Jan Miller, animal control coordinator for Liberty Wildlife. pop science.
One of the birds that died from the disease was a member of a breeding pair of wild California condors and the mother of a newly hatched chick. The mother was found acting suspiciously in a cave near the Grand Canyon and brought to Liberty Wildlife with suspected bird flu. She died eight days later.
“Using telemetry, we estimated that the eggs were probably laid between March 13th and March 17th, and were predicted to hatch between May 9th and May 17th,” said Liberty. Wildlife executive director Megan Mosby told PopSci. “The limited movement of the male led us to believe he was trying to incubate his eggs. We decided it was unsafe to raise chicks alone and try to feed them on their own, especially in damp, cool caves that are perfect for flu contamination.”
[Related: Everything you know about bald eagles is wrong.]
Biologists brought the eggs back to Liberty Wildlife and monitored them in a facility called an egg incubator. When the eggs began to “flip,” the Los Angeles Zoo’s breeding team advised Liberty Wildlife on best practices for monitoring the growth of the newly hatched chicks. The researchers believe that where the chick breaks the egg shell or breaks through the membrane, it is in the wrong position inside the egg and needs help for successful hatching. I noticed
“Dr. Stephanie Lamb, a veterinarian, helped extract the baby from the egg, and the operation was a success. After a physical examination, swabs were taken to test for bird flu, and the chick was placed in a surrogate (stuffed animal).” The mother “was placed in an incubator with the condor,” Miller said.
Newly hatched chicks were negative for bird flu, continued to eat solid food, and bonded with their surrogate stuffed parents. Mosby said 11 of the 21 condors that died from bird flu were breeding females, so her team was thrilled to find out she was a female.
On May 17, she was flown to the Peregrine Foundation in Boise, Idaho. There she will be raised by her foster parents, and one day she will be released into the skies of Arizona.
“At this age, chicks imprint very easily on humans, so it’s important to keep chicks of the same species in order to release them,” Miller says. “The Peregrine Foundation has a very advanced breeding department with proven foster parents who help raise chicks to be released into the wild.
The researchers say vultures like the California condor are not only clever, but also much-needed to help clean up the environment because they handle dead and rotting animals that can spread disease.
“Vultures are one of nature’s scavengers. They deserve every fair chance to survive and be part of this world,” Miller says.
In addition to welcoming the continued success of hatchlings this week, the USDA’s Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service said: Approved emergency use of bird flu vaccine May 16th.Yurok tribe called this move“It’s a big step in our efforts to combat this pernicious threat, but we still have a long way to go.”
