California condors confront bird flu in flight from extinction

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Jul 6, 2023 • 8 min read

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The Los Angeles Zoo's Condor chick, LA1123, waits to be fed in a temperature-controlled enclosure on Tuesday May 2, 2023. The chick was born on Sunday, April 30, 2023. The latest breeding effort to boost the number of North America's biggest land bird. There are only a few hundred wild birds. Experts claim that the species cannot survive without human intervention. In the wild, more birds die each year than are born in nature or in captivity.

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Debbie Sears is a condor keeper and she feeds the condor chick, LA1123 on Tuesday, May 2, at Los Angeles Zoo. The chick was born on Sunday, April 30, 2023. The latest breeding effort to boost the number of North America's biggest land bird. There are only a few hundred wild birds left. Chicks hatch in zoos across the U.S., Mexico and Canada. Each baby bird is important. The chicks are small, with just a few ounces downy feathers on a balding head. They will eventually grow to the famous 10-foot (3.05 meter) wingspan of the species and join the population of North America’s largest soaring birds in the wild.

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Hope, a California condor, takes flight at the Los Angeles Zoo on Tuesday, May 2, 2030. California condors live in a constant cycle of death and life. The latest breeding attempts to increase the population of North America’s largest landbird - a species that is endangered and only a few hundred birds exist in the wild – come at a time when the avian influenza has already killed twenty birds this year.

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Hope, the California condor, is a species ambassador and she sits in the sunshine at the Los Angeles Zoo on Tuesday, May 2, 2103 California condors live in a perpetual cycle of death and life. The avian influenza has killed at least 20 birds in this year's breeding program to increase the population of North America’s largest landbird, an endangered species with only a few hundred remaining in the wild.

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Debbie Sears (a condor keeper) shows the hatched Egg from Condor Chick LA1123 on Tuesday, May 2, at the Los Angeles Zoo. The chick was born on Sunday, April 30, 2023. This year, it's the egg-hatching period for California condors. The latest in 40 years' worth of conservation efforts aimed at bringing these iconic creatures from the edge of extinction back to the wild. Captive breeding programs are essential to the survival of this endangered species. With fewer than 350 birds flying freely from the Pacific Northwest all the way to Baja California in Mexico and the avian influenza ravaging a flock that spanned Arizona and Utah last year, it is vital to continue these programs.

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Debbie Sears, condor keeper at Los Angeles Zoo, displays a hatched Egg from Condor Chick LA1123. The chick was born on Sunday, April 30, 2023. This year, it's the egg-hatching period for California condors. The latest in 40 years' worth of conservation efforts that have brought these iconic creatures from the edge of extinction and into the wild without human interference. Captive breeding programs are essential to the survival of this endangered species. With fewer than 350 birds flying freely from the Pacific Northwest all the way to Baja California in Mexico and the avian influenza ravaging a flock that spanned Arizona and Utah last year, it is vital to continue these programs.

Richard Vogel/AP

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Debbie Sears is a condor keeper and takes Condor Chick LA1123 out of her temperature-controlled enclosure on Tuesday, 2 May 2023 at the Los Angeles Zoo. The chick was born on Sunday, April 30, 2023. The latest breeding effort to boost the number of North America's biggest land bird. There are only a few hundred wild birds. Experts claim that the species cannot survive without human intervention. In the wild, more birds die each year than are born in captivity or in nature.

Richard Vogel/AP

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Chandra David, condor keeper at the Los Angeles Zoo talks to an interviewer in the office where the California Condors are monitored, on Tuesday, May 2,2023. The latest breeding effort to increase the population of North America’s largest landbird, an endangered species with only a few hundred birds in the wild comes as avian influenza has already killed twenty birds this year.

Richard Vogel/AP

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A California condor named Hope poses for a picture at the Los Angeles Zoo on Tuesday, May 2,2023. California condors live in a perpetual cycle of death and life. The latest breeding attempts to increase the population of North America’s largest landbird, an endangered species with only a few hundred birds in the wild, come at a time when the avian influenza has already killed twenty birds this year.

Richard Vogel/AP

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Dmetri Domerick a condor keeper, walks with Hope, a resident of the Los Angeles Zoo and an ambassador for this species, in Hope's habitat on Tuesday, May 2,2023. California condors have been trapped in a life-and-death cycle. The latest breeding attempts to increase the population of North America’s largest landbird, an endangered species with only a few hundred birds in the wild, come at a time when the avian influenza has already killed twenty birds this year.

Richard Vogel/AP

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A California Condor named Hope takes flight in the Condor habitat of the Los Angeles Zoo on Tuesday, May 2,2023. California condors live in a perpetual cycle of death and life. The latest breeding attempts to increase the population of North America’s largest landbird, a species that is endangered and only has a few hundred birds in the wild, come at a time when the avian influenza has already killed twenty birds this year.

Richard Vogel/AP

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LOS ANGELES, Calif. (AP) - The California Condor faces the deadliest strain in U.S. History of avian flu. This outbreak could threaten the iconic vulture whose 10-foot (3.05 meter) wingspan is at risk decades after conservationists saved it from extinction.

Nine newly-hatched chicks covered in white downy feathers give Los Angeles Zoo condor keepers hope that after 40 years, the population of North America’s largest soaring birds will thrive once again.

With fewer than 350 condors in the wild -- in flocks that span from the Pacific Northwest to Baja California, Mexico -- the historic outbreak means ongoing breeding-in-captivity and re-wilding programs like the LA Zoo's remain essential.

In the last year and a quarter, millions of birds in the U.S. died of avian influenza, including over 430 bald-eagles, 58,000,000 turkeys, and 58 million commercial chickens, which were all euthanized for the purpose of preventing the spread of this disease. The death of dozens seals near the Maine coast last summer is also suspected to be caused by bird flu.

The strain has already been blamed for the deaths of 22 California condors, who were part of an Arizona flock that makes up a third or more of the entire wild population of this species.

Experts now worry that the strain may spread rapidly across state borders during the spring migration, causing further harm to condors. This week, more than two dozen environmentalists urged the federal to approve a vaccine for condors both in the wild as well as in captivity.

In a letter, the advocates, including the Center for Biological Diversity warned that the flu strain was 'endangering the existence' for the famed bird.

The California Condor is once again at risk of extinction. Once again, an urgent vaccination campaign is needed to stave off a potentially deadly infection, as well as possible extinction.

Wildlife officials claim that even as the 50th anniversary approaches of the Endangered Species Act, the species cannot survive without human intervention. This is true, even though humans have also been responsible for many of its losses, outside of the avian influenza, such as deaths due to lead ammunition poisoning.

Ashleigh Blackford is the coordinator of the California Condor for the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service.

Lead ammunition is widely used in California despite a law that prohibits its use for hunting. Condors are harmed by lead ammunition when they eat the meat of dead animals.

Chandra David of the Los Angeles Zoo condor keeper said, "It is really difficult to see a bird that you have raised die in your hands." She has treated lead-poisoned Condors who were brought back to zoos for treatment. "And we can't do anything about it."

Spring is still a season of hope. Chicks hatch at breeding programs in Mexico and the U.S., and online "condorcams" provide live feeds to fans.

It's funny that this species isn't your typical charismatic one, right? They're a bit ugly. "Most people don't like vultures but this particular one (is different)", Blackford said.

The condor is a prominent part of California culture, even though it's not an official state bird. That honor goes to the California Quail. Chuck the Condor is the mascot of the Los Angeles Clippers and one of these birds is prominently featured on the California quarter.

The population was almost wiped out during the California Gold Rush as a result of hunting, poisoning by toxic pesticides DDT and lead ammo.

In the 1980s all 22 California Condors that were left in the wild, were controversially captured. They then went into captive breeding programs. This was done to save the species. In 1992, zoo-bred birds first were released into the wild. Since then, they have been reintroduced to habitats where they had disappeared. This includes the ancestral lands of the Yurok Tribe in Northern California. Conservationists consider the ongoing rewilding efforts a success.

Noah Greenwald is the director of endangered species at Center for Biological Diversity. He said that it will take many decades to restore species.

The condor has a strong connection to many Native American tribes of the West. Havasupai, for instance, claim that the condor carried their ancestors up the Grand Canyon, its wings creating famous striations.

The Yurok Tribe's efforts to bring back the condors highlight how Native Americans have reclaimed their traditional role as stewards. "This was a position that was taken away from us by force after contact," said Tiana William-Claussen.

The revered condor, also known as prey-go -neesh (in Yurok), disappeared from the area in the late 1800s. Williams-Claussen, her team and tribal leaders made a promise in 2003 to bring captive-bred Condors back over Yurok land in 2021.

In the next 20 years, the tribe hopes to release 4 to 6 captive-bred bird into the wild each year.

Williams-Claussen stated that the ultimate goal is to have birds with no tags or transmitters so they can reintegrate themselves into our ecosystem and our culture.