VERMILION CLIFFS NATIONAL MONUMENT, Arizona – In celebration of Nationwide Public Lands Day on September 28, 4 uncommon captive-bred California condors will probably be launched into the wild at Vermilion Cliffs Nationwide Monument in Arizona. The twenty eighth annual occasion will probably be held in individual in partnership between the Peregrine Fund and the Bureau of Land Administration Vermilion Cliffs Nationwide Monument, however those that can’t attend will have the ability to watch a livestream on the Peregrine Fund YouTube channel.
Within the Eighties, the California condor inhabitants had dropped to only 22 people, sparking the California Condor Restoration Program. The birds had been first launched at Vermilion Cliffs Nationwide Monument on December 12, 1996. They’ve since been launched there yearly from then on, till 2023 when the Extremely Pathogenic Avian Influenza (HPAI) killed 21 condors within the Utah-Arizona flock. One California condor nestling, “Milagra,” who managed to outlive regardless of her mom dying earlier than she hatched, will probably be launched on the 2024 occasion.
“This 12 months’s condor launch will probably be particularly impactful given the losses we skilled in 2023 from HPAI and lead poisoning. With solely 85 condors remaining within the Utah-Arizona flock and lead poisoning nonetheless a distinguished difficulty, the discharge of those 4 condors may have a major impression on the restoration program. However the California condor launch this 12 months is not only a celebration of those 4 condors, it’s a second of triumph for the biologists, volunteers, wildlife rehabilitators, restoration companions, and supporters who persevered by means of the final 12 months.” – Tim Hauck, The Peregrine Fund’s California condor program director.
The livestream occasion will start at 11:30am MST on September 28. As a result of the precise time that the birds will depart their pens is unpredictable, the livestream will function a picture-in-picture view on the pens alongside interviews and movies with biologists and conservationists. The occasion was first live-streamed in 2020, when it attracted greater than 10,000 occasion viewers.
“The BLM is glad to work alongside The Peregrine Fund and different state and federal companies in supporting the restoration of this nice species. We’re excited to host this occasion as soon as once more on-site and just about in order that the scope and attain of this unbelievable and profitable collaborative restoration effort can proceed to encourage folks worldwide. The BLM is proud to host this occasion and handle the habitat and landscapes that permit these magnificent condors to thrive.” – BLM Vermilion Cliffs Nationwide Monument supervisor Robert Bate
