The North Coast has lost another condor.
B8 was discovered dead last month, according to the Yurok Tribe, which is leading the Northern California Condor Restoration Program effort to return the bird they know as prey-go-neesh to the northern reaches of the endangered species’ former territory in partnership with Redwood National and State Parks.
Free-flying since October, the nearly 3-year-old male was recovered by NCCRP crew members in a remote part of the Bald Hills area after receiving what’s known as a mortality signal from the transmitter attached to its wing on Jan. 7.
“Our team felt quite a bit of affection for B8, who was the last released of this year’s cohort,” Yurok Tribe Wildlife Department Director Tiana Williams-Claussen said in a social media post. “He was low in the condor ‘pecking order,’ but insistent, tagging along and inserting himself wherever the more established birds were congregating. So, we’ve named him ‘Ne-kew (Our Little Sibling).”
As Williams-Claussen previously told Journal, the notifications can be an indication of a range of things — from the worst case scenario or a bird being injured to the transmitter being damaged or the condor simply hunkering down during a storm — and triggers a response from the monitoring team.
While the NCCRP crew “mobilized immediately” after receiving the signal, with hopes of “providing life-saving care,” B8 was already dead when found and “the remains had been heavily scavenged,” according to the tribe.
“Following program protocol, remains were sent to the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service Forensics Laboratory in Ashland for a necropsy to determine the manner of death, which is currently unknown,” the post states.
The loss of B8 comes exactly one year after B7, the youngest member of the North Coast’s condor flock, died from lead poisoning — the single greatest threat to the birds — just three months after being released into Yurok ancestral lands.
Known by the Yurok name Pey-noh-pey-o-wok’ (I am friend or kind or good natured), the 18-month-old male was also recovered after a mortality signal went out from his transmitter.
Known as nature’s cleanup crew, the apex scavengers play an important role in the ecosystem by helping clear large carcasses from the landscape, preventing the spread of disease. According to the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, half of all condor deaths in the wild are caused by the birds feeding on carrion contaminated with lead ammunition fragments.
Several of the North Coast flock, which now numbers 24 following B8’s death, have been treated over the years for lead poisoning, including several close calls. The use of lead ammunition has been banned in California since 2019.
The largest bird in North America with a wingspan of more than 9 feet and the ability to cover 200 miles in a single day, only 27 remained in 1987 when the last condor was removed from the wild in a race against extinction.
Over the ensuing decades, a captive breeding program slowly began expanding those numbers. As of December of 2024 — the last numbers available from the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service — there were nearly 370 birds flying free at release sites operating in California — including the Big Sur and Pinnacles — as well as Arizona and Baja California, Mexico.
In 2022, the NCCRP released the first condors to soar in local skies in more than a century.
As in many Indigenous cultures, the condor is sacred in Yurok tradition. Believed to be among the Earth’s first creatures and the one that carries their prayers to the Creator, prey-go-neesh also joins in the tribe’s World Renewal ceremonies to bring balance back to the world through the gift of feathers, which are used in dancers’ regalia.
According to the tribe, “B8 will be laid to rest at a private site.”