Editor’s note: While it took a little time, the three new condors were successfully released into the wild. The two females, B2 followed by B0, ventured out Wednesday, where they were greeted by the entire flock at the release management site and got some quick introductions to the hierarchical nature of life as a condor. B1, the lone male, made his way out Thursday, the one-year anniversary of A7’s first flight.
By the end of this week, three more California condors could be soaring over the North Coast.
Once released, the two females — B0 and B2 — and lone male — B1— will join eight others already flying free as part of a Yurok Tribe-led effort to return the endangered species they know as prey-go-neesh to the northern reaches of the species’ former territory.
The young birds hatched at the Los Angeles Zoo last spring, with B1 emerging from his egg May 3 — the same day that the North Coast flock’s trailblazers A3 and A2 took their first flights into the wild, marking the historic return of California condors to Yurok country after more than 130 years of absence.
“We couldn’t be more excited to release three more condors,” Yurok Wildlife Department Director Tiana Williams-Claussen said in an announcement. “I would like to thank the Los Angeles Zoo, as well as all of our partners, funders and donors for supporting the reintroduction of prey-go-neesh. Soon, 11 prey-go-neesh will soar over our ancestral homeland.”
The birds are acclimating well to their new environment and showing signs they are ready for release, according to the Northern California Condor Restoration Program.
A release attempt was scheduled for Wednesday, after the Journal went to publication, but was dependent on now free-flying pre-go-neesh being at the site and feeding to “act as a signal to the new birds that it’s safe to leave the secure flight pen,” according to the NCCRP.
From there, it was ultimately up to B0, B1 and B2.
“We always hope the birds will immediately depart the flight pen, but it is out of our control. After we open the gate, we are on condor time,” said NCCRP Manager and Yurok Wildlife Department senior biologist Chris West in the announcement. “If the birds remain in the flight pen for several hours, we will reevaluate and possibly reinitiate the process on another day.”
According to the NCCRP, biologists expect those on the outside to take the newcomers under their wings once released. The free-flying birds’ regular visits to the holding facility located in the Bald Hills area are already “laying the groundwork for their integration into the population.”
The North Coast flock also includes Ney-gem’ ‘Ne-chween-kah (She carries our prayers, A0), Hlow Hoo-let (Finally, I/we fly, A1), Nes-kwe-chokw’ (He returns/arrives, A2) and Poy’-we-son (The one who goes ahead or leader, A3) as well as Cher-perhl So-nee-ne-pek’ (I feel strong, A4); and Neee’n (Watcher, A5), ‘Me-new-kwek,’ (I’m bashful or I am shy, A6) and He-we-chek’ (I am healthy or I get well, A7).
Because captive-raised condors don’t spend as much time with their parents as they would in the wild, learning important life skills needed for survival, the trio is currently being held with A6, who’s tasked with filling in those gaps, imparting critical lessons about what it means to be a condor and how to be a member of a highly social and hierarchical flock.
All four are expected to be released together, at which time B0, B1 and B2 will receive their Yurok names. The previous mentor, a captive bird known as No. 746, was moved to the Oakland Zoo in December due to concerns about the spread of avian flu in the area.
(Update: After release, B2 received the Yurok name Pey-cheek, which means “upriver,” with a NCCRP social media post stating, “As the first one out of the three, her name connotes the start of the journey. The waters begin here and flow to feed the rest of our world.”
B0’s name is Pey-gel, which means “fighter.” “She came out the gate and immediately engaged with Ney-gem ‘Ne-Chween-kah (A0), trying to push her off the carcass, and tussling with the elder cohort again shortly after. Though suitably chastised by her elders, that bold and fighting spirit is worth commemorating in her name. We pray that it carries her far in this life,” the post states.
B1’s name is Pue-leek, which means “Downriver” and “encompasses the flow of water and life to the north along the coast.” According to NCCRP, B1 has a single wing tag due to an injury likely caused by “an altercation with another bird while still at the Los Angeles Zoo” but “carries a satellite transmitter on his left wing, and a radio transmitter on his tail.”)
When they take flight, the three new birds will be the first released condors vaccinated against the H1N1 virus after being inoculated at the Los Angeles Zoo as part of a trial program that will eventually determine whether wild condors, including the rest of the North Coast flock, should receive the shot.
According to the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, the vaccine “should provide some level of protection from mortality if the birds are exposed to the virus, and likely decrease the degree to which an individual becomes ill.”
At least 21 condors in the Southwest flock were killed by the highly contagious virus, with another outbreak carrying the potential to unravel decades of work to rebuild the wild population, which currently numbers about 350. The population has gradually been increasing since the last 22 wild birds were captured in 1987 to initiate captive breeding programs in a race against time to save the species from extinction.
B0’s father “Topa Topa” is the oldest living California condor in the world at 57 and one of the original birds in the captive breeding program started in 1987, according to the Ventana Wildlife Society.
With the birds still living on the brink, Williams-Claussen described the bird flu losses as “deeply impactful” to members of the Yurok Tribe in a recent Associated Press story about the vaccine trial.
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.
“We’re all kind of waiting with bated breath to see what the final results are going to be,” Williams-Claussen said in the article.
But even with such precautions, sending condors into the wild comes with inherent risk, mainly from man-made dangers.
Last month, A6 underwent lead poisoning treatment at the Sequoia Park Zoo and five other condors were found to have elevated levels of the toxin during routine health assessments done a few days after they fed on the remains of an elk killed by a poacher in the Bald Hills area of Redwood National and State Parks, which is believed to be the source.
Known as nature’s clean-up crew, condors play an important role in the ecosystem as apex scavengers that use their powerful beaks to pierce the tough skins of dead animals ranging from deer and elk to sea lions, and even the occasional whale, clearing large carcasses from the environment and helping prevent the spread of disease.
That makes the massive birds with a nearly 10-foot wingspan — the largest in North America — vulnerable to lead poisoning from ammunition, with about half of condor deaths in the wild attributed to birds eating lead fragments in carrion.
And this wasn’t the flocks’ first brush with a potentially lethal scenario.
Last year, two contaminated elks were found within the birds’ range, with one of the poached animals containing enough lead bullet fragments to kill several condors. At the time, West described the situation as coming “as close as you can get to a worst-case scenario.”
In a recent email to the Journal, Williams-Claussen said A6 was always intended to take on the mentor role, “as a bird who would be dominant to the new young cohort, but was not the most dominant of our birds.”
“This would give the younglings a gentler transition into the new flight pen for acclimatization, but also might give A6, Me-new-kwek’, or I am shy, a bit of a boost as he is currently the least dominant of our free-flying cohort,” she said.
A6’s brush with lead poisoning delayed those plans and A4 briefly took over the role of mentor, Williams-Claussen said, but A6 returned to the job while recovering from treatment.
Before last year’s arrival of the first condors, the Yurok Tribe spent nearly 20 years laying the groundwork to bring prey-go-neesh back to their ancestral lands. Those efforts included educating hunters about non-lead ammunition to prevent the exact circumstance that just unfolded, which could have been devastating for the fledgling flock. California became the first state in the country to ban the use of lead ammunition for hunting in 2019, with first-time violators facing fines of up to $500 and subsequent offenses carrying fines of $1,000 to $5,000 and the risk of losing hunting privileges. (A list of approved non-lead ammunition can be found at wildlife.ca.gov/Hunting/Nonlead-Ammunition/Certified.)
The tainted elk marked the first time most of the birds scavenged in the outside world, with previous meals coming from carrion regularly set out at the release and management facility. The exception was A7, which was documented to have fed on the carcass of a bear and a deer by using information from the bird’s satellite transmitter feed.
“When a condor or condors focus in on a location for more than a day, it is an indication that there is something of interest there,” Williams-Claussen told the Journal. “Our staff went out to investigate, and found the area of interest, a small low area below a tribal member’s property and [A7] was observed feeding.”
In that case, the tribal members told NCCRP staff the animals had been harvested using non-lead ammunition, at least some of which was provided to them by the Yurok Tribe, Williams-Claussen said.
“These wild foraging events are a critical part of our condors’ eventual full reintegration into the system, and of their individual and population-level success,” Williams-Claussen said. “Until this point, they’ve relied wholly on the proffered food we put out for them. That has been absolutely fine in that these are young birds, relatively newly released from rearing facilities on their first forays into the wild. They have literally never truly flown before our release, and it is our responsibility as managers to give them the support they need until they can support themselves.”
As with all new release sites, she noted, the current North Coast flock faces challenges “in that there is no existing population for them to integrate with and learn from.”
The NCCRP’s goal is to release a new cohort of condors each year for the next two decades to build up a self-sustaining population that no longer needs to be bolstered by releases from breeding programs and to reach the status West has previously described as “birds without tags,” living their lives without human intervention.
“They are the leaders in reclaiming their ancestral lands, and they will be the teachers of the following generations of condors, passing on knowledge hard won through their exploration,” Williams-Claussen said, adding that the birds’ transition to feeding in the wild a year after their release “is strong evidence of their resilience and adaptability, with their inherent curiosity and intelligence paving the way for their success.”
Kimberly Wear (she/her) is the Journal’s digital editor. Reach her at (707) 442-1400, extension 323, or kim@northcoastjournal.com.
(Editor’s note: This story has been updated to include the Yurok names bestowed on B0, B1 and B2 after their release.)
This article appears in ‘Reclaiming Their Ancestral Lands’.
