Last California condor in the wild captured in 1987

LAST CALIF. CONDOR IN WILD IS CAPTURED RARE BIRD TAKEN TO WILD ANIMAL PARK TO BE PUT IN CAPTIVE-BREEDING PROGRAM

On Easter Sunday 1987, the last known wild California condor was captured 40 miles southwest of Bakersfield. He was taken to what is now called the San Diego Zoo Safari Park, to be put in a captive-breeding program.

The giant male known as AC-9 (Adult Condor 9) fathered nine chicks before he was moved to the Los Angeles Zoo. After 15 years in the captive-breeding program, he was released back into the wild May 1, 2002.

From 27 birds in captivity in 1987, the population of California condors has grown to more than 500.

The last California condor known to be living in the wild was captured yesterday and taken to the San Diego Wild Animal Park for a captive-breeding program intended to save the dying species from extinction.

The condor, North America’s largest land bird with a wingspan of as much as 10 feet, was captured by a team of biologists about 10:15 a.m. at the Bitter Creek National Wildlife Refuge, 40 miles southwest of Bakersfield in Kern County, said Bill Toone, curator of birds for the San Diego Wild Animal Park.

“It’s a very strange moment. There’s a big sigh of relief in reaching an ending point, but it’s also a new beginning,” Toone said. “Though it’s sad to accept the last of any species from the wild, we are confident that in a few years we will be releasing captive-bred offspring into a better-protected environment.”

The 7-year-old male, known as AC-9, was driven to the Wild Animal Park, where it was examined by a veterinarian and then released into a quarantine aviary. The bird will remain in quarantine for about two weeks before it is placed in a cage with other condors.

Toone said the bird was believed to be healthy, but blood samples will be taken today to determine whether it has been exposed to any heavy metals or pesticides that contributed to the death of other condors that once lived in the wild.

The primary cause of death to condors in the wild is lead poisoning brought on by eating shotgun pellets in animal carcasses, Toone said.

The capture of AC-9 brings the number of condors in captivity to 27 — 13 at the Los Angeles Zoo and 14 at the San Diego Wild Animal Park. Of those, 13 are male and 14 are female.

AC-9 has special significance because last spring it became the last condor to breed in the wild, Toone said. Mating at the age of 6, AC-9 helped researchers pinpoint the breeding age for condors. California condors usually lay one egg every two years in the wild, Toone said, and of those, 50 percent hatch and one in 10 of those reach maturity.

So far, no California condors have bred in captivity, Toone said, but researchers are encouraged by the courting activity of one adult pair in San Diego this breeding season. Though no mating and egg is expected this year, Toone said park officials were confident the 1988 breeding season would produce the first-ever California condor bred and hatched in captivity.

AC-9’s former mate, the last known female in the wild, was captured in February and taken to the Los Angeles Zoo. Researchers felt it was best to take AC-9 to the Wild Animal Park and introduce it to a new mate in order to improve the genetic diversity of the condor population.

In 1965, the National Audubon Society estimated only 40 condors were left in the wild. In the last four years, more than half the wild population disappeared.

This story includes material from news services.