By Cat Lazaroff

SAN DIEGO, California, April 16, 2002 (ENS) - For the first time in 18 years, a condor egg laid in the wild has been hatched in the wild. The egg hatched last Thursday, in a nest in the rugged back country of the Los Padres National Forest in California's Ventura County. Both parents were reared in captivity, but have been living in the wild since 1995.

"It's very exciting," said Mike Barth, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service's supervisory wildlife biologist for condor recovery efforts in southern California. "The significance of this hatching for the condor program is so much greater than the event itself."

In this image, captured by a researcher's video camera, the captive bred parents care for their newborn chick in a nest cave in southern California. (Photo courtesy Zoological Society of San Diego)

Dr. Allen Mee of the Zoological Society of San Diego watched the historic hatching.

"The female, R8, went into the cave at around midday," Mee said. "The male, W0, was sitting on the already cracked egg. She stared at her mate for a while, waiting for him to leave, but he just stared back. Then she nudged him off the egg, pushing her head under his tail."

"In attempting to incubate the egg, she inadvertently crushed the egg shell, exposing the chick," continued Mee. "For several hours she was restless and appeared confused, trying to incubate both the chick and the egg pieces. Eventually she settled down on the new born chick. It was just incredible."

Dr. Mee found the nest site on February 18 after monitoring a pair of condors for several weeks while he and USFWS biologists investigated nest caves in a remote canyon.

A juvenile condor, bottom, with an adult. (Photo by Tad Motoyama, courtesy U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service)

A similar tactic was attempted last year when a pair of condors in Arizona produced the first egg laid in the wild since biologists captured the remaining handful of wild condors in the early 1980s, in a last ditch effort to save the species through captive breeding.

But when biologists approached the Ventura County nest to remove the egg, the male, which had finally begun incubating the egg, refused to leave the nest, an action that was viewed as a positive commitment by the male parent to care for his offspring. Biologists decided to let the pair incubate the egg on their own.

For the past two months the pair have been attentive parents and have shared in the incubation duties, spending up to a week on the egg at one time.

"They have continued to be attentive during the incubation and hatching stage of parenthood," said Marc Weitzel, manager of the Hopper Mountain National Wildlife Refuge, which supervises condor recovery in Southern California. "This gives us confidence that they will continue nurturing the chick."

"Since the hatching, W0 and R8 have been excellent parents feeding and caring for the chick in text book fashion," added Barth. "However, we'll remain cautiously optimistic while this chick develops."

A captive bred condor soars free. (Photo © Noel Snyder, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service)

Three other condor eggs have been laid in the wild over the past decade, but two never hatched, and the chick that was produced died within a day. The chick born last week is the first to survive in the wild this long.

Four other condor nest sites have been observed this year, two more in California and two in the Grand Canyon in Arizona, said Bruce Palmer, the USFWS condor program coordinator. The number of breeding pairs is increasing every year and with every attempt at breeding, the condor pairs gain valuable experience.

"We now know that these captive bred birds are capable of living and breeding in the wild," said Steve Thompson, manager of the USFWS California-Nevada operations office. "Now with this hatching and four other active condor nests, we eagerly anticipate the successful rearing of a chick this season."

There are 63 condors now living in the wild in California and Arizona, 18 in field pens ready for release and 104 in captivity at the Los Angeles Zoo, San Diego Wild Animal Park and the Peregrine Fund's World Center for Birds of Prey in Boise, Idaho. Seven more captive bred juveniles will be released in the Sespe Wilderness Area in Ventura County, California this spring.

The goal of the California Condor Recovery Plan is to establish two geographically separate populations, one in California and the other in Arizona, each with 150 birds and at least 15 breeding pairs.

An adult and a juvenile condor squabble over pecking order. (Photo by Tad Motoyama, courtesy U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service)

As an associate solicitor with the Interior Department in the 1980s, Norton played a role in removing the last remaining condors from the wild for captive breeding programs. "Hand in hand with many partners, we are pulling this majestic bird back from the brink of extinction," Norton added.

California condors, the largest birds in North America, are scavengers that have soared over mountainous areas of California since prehistoric times. In the 20th century, their numbers plummeted, due in part to loss of habitat and food, and to losses from shooting, lead poisoning and toxic substances used to poison predators.

Condors were listed as an endangered species in 1967, under a law that pre-dated the existing Endangered Species Act. In 1982, the condor population reached its lowest level of 22 birds, prompting USFWS biologists to start collecting chicks and eggs for a captive breeding program.

By late 1984, only 15 condors remained in the wild. After seven condors died in rapid succession, it was decided to bring the remaining birds in from the wild for the captive breeding program.

In 1992, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service began releasing California condors back into the wild. To date, 218 condor chicks have been raised in captive breeding facilities.