In early March last year, an endangered California condor, one of fewer than 350 of its kind left in the wild, sat on a cliff in Arizona for several days staring into space. The disease was probably caused by lead poisoning, said Tim Hawk, condor program director at the Peregrine Foundation, a nonprofit conservation group that helps reintroduce condors into the skies above the Grand Canyon and Zion. These bald-headed scavengers can weigh up to 25 pounds with black feathers that are about 10 feet long and feed on the flesh of cattle, coyotes, and other large mammals killed by ranchers and hunters with lead bullets. often fall victim to lead exposure when eating. Lethargy and drooping posture are obvious signs. “We thought this bird must have been involved in something bad,” Hauck said.
His team of eight wildlife biologists stationed in Arizona’s scenic Vermilion Cliffs National Monument, 150 miles north of Flagstaff, discovered the sick condor on a 1,000-foot-tall sandstone ledge. They skied down to visit feeding stations, hoping to catch them there and keep them healthy. inspection. The Hayabusa Foundation provides supplemental food to condors, most of which are raised in captivity and released into the wild, so that biologists can easily capture them for routine testing and provide treatment. It offers. lead poisoningvaccinate against West Nile virus and update equipment used to track the whereabouts of condors.
When the sick bird was finally trapped in its feeding area a week later, Hauck quickly realized there was something he had never seen before in the lead-poisoned condor. Her eyes were cloudy and she had a condition called corneal edema. He turned to Stephanie Lamb, a veterinarian who volunteers at Liberty Wildlife Center, a Peregrine Fund partner organization in Phoenix. He said the condors were sickened by a disease even more alarming than lead poisoning: Highly Pathogenic Avian Influenza (HPAI), a virus that has caused the deaths of millions of wild birds and chickens around the world in the past two years. I wanted to know if she thought it might be happening. HPAI kills 90 to 100 percent of infected poultry, often within 48 hours, but less is known about mortality rates in wild birds. Lamb said corneal edema was indeed on the list of symptoms.
Hauck’s team rushed the condor to quarantine at the Liberty Wildlife Center, four and a half hours south, for emergency treatment and testing. Then, while still waiting for the results, the situation at Vermilion Cliffs worsened. A dead condor was found near the cave where it had nested. The team recovered the carcass and immediately shipped it to the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service Forensic Laboratory in Ashland, Oregon, with an urgent request for a rapid autopsy.Recognize serious threats to extinction california condor When condors faced an outbreak of avian influenza, labs quickly confirmed concerns that condors had contracted avian influenza.
A wave of panic washed over Hauck and his crew. Condors are social creatures. They roost in groups, gather in hungry flocks, devour decomposing animal carcasses, share saliva, and defecate everywhere. Hauck describes this as a “feeding frenzy,” ideal conditions for disease to spread. Additionally, the virus thrives in humid and cold environments. Since it was a wet spring, condors nest in caves that are humid and cooler than the outside air. Hauck feared the disease could be transmitted through the air or body fluids, causing the condor population to explode “like wildfire.” He knew he had to contain it.
Feeding stations have already been closed to prevent the birds from congregating, and biologists donned protective gear. Their goal was to recover dead condors to prevent infecting other scavengers, and to rescue any sick condors they were able to capture for treatment at Liberty Wildlife Center.
They worked 14 hours a day, climbing cliffs, rappelling down canyons, exploring the banks of the Colorado River by boat, and recovering dead condors almost every day. Hauck said it felt like a never-ending nightmare. “We lost 21 birds in three weeks.” All recovered carcasses tested positive for HPAI.
In less than a month, nearly 20 percent of the southwestern California condor population in Arizona and Utah was wiped out. Conservationists feared the virus could hit California’s condors next. Then it disappeared as quickly as the virus resurfaced. As the spring bird migration season ended and hot, sunny days returned, Arizona’s condors stopped dying and California’s condors were saved.
Recognizing that the situation could have worsened, leading to the extinction of dozens more condors in multiple states and the possible death of animals in captive-bred herds kept in zoos. , the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service petitioned the U.S. Department of Agriculture:allow emergency use of avian influenza vaccine To vaccinate condors in case of another outbreak.
It was a huge failure. Although HPAI vaccines are used in some other countries, U.S. health officials have decided against vaccinating any animals (including poultry) in the country for reasons ranging from practical to political. No vaccinations have been approved. But in the face of deadly threats to one of the nation’s most endangered species, condor advocates hope they can persuade the Department of Agriculture to make an unprecedented exception. Ta.
