“And there’s nothing we can do about it.” “It’s really hard to watch a bird you raised come back and die in your arms,” said Los Angeles Zoo condor-keeper Chandra David, who has tended to lead-poisoned condors brought back to the zoo for treatment. The condors scavenge meat from dead animals, felled by the lead ammunition, and fall ill - often fatally. Fish and Wildlife Service.ĭespite a California law banning it for hunting, lead ammunition is still readily used. “I think it’s going to take some changes in behavior from the humans on the planet so that we can really address the threats to the species,” said Ashleigh Blackford, the California condor coordinator for the U.S. “The California condor is at risk of extinction once again, and once again, an emergency vaccination campaign is required to stave off a deadly infection and possible extinction,” they wrote, referencing the success of the West Nile Virus vaccine for condors in the early 2000s.Īs the 50th anniversary of the Endangered Species Act approaches, wildlife officials say the species still cannot sustain itself without human intervention - even though humans are also to blame for much of its losses outside the avian flu, including deaths from lead ammunition poisoning. The advocates, which include the Center for Biological Diversity, warned in a letter that the flu strain is “jeopardizing the existence” of the famed bird. More than two dozen environmental advocates this week urged the federal government to expedite approvals for a vaccine that would be given to both condors in the wild and in captivity. Bird flu is further suspected in the deaths of dozens of seals off the coast of Maine last summer.Īlready, the strain is believed to have caused the deaths of at least 22 California condors in Arizona, which were part of a flock in the Southwest that typically accounts for a third of the species’ entire wild population.Įxperts are now concerned the strain could further impact condors by rapidly spreading across state lines through the spring migration. have died from avian flu, including more than 430 bald eagles and some 58 million turkeys and commercial chickens that were euthanized to prevent the spread of the disease. Over the past year and a half, millions of birds across the U.S. 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. history, and the outbreak could jeopardize the iconic vulture with its 10-foot (3.05-meter) wingspan decades after conservationists saved the species from extinction.īut nine newly hatched chicks, covered in downy white feathers, give condor-keepers at the Los Angeles Zoo hope that the endangered population of North America’s largest soaring land birds will once again thrive after 40 years of aggressive efforts. LOS ANGELES - The California condor is facing the deadliest strain of avian influenza in U.S.
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