Condor+Period+3


 * Group Members:** Katrina and Elizabeth

We will communicate and have fun!! We will scedule who will work on the wiki one night and who will work on the google earth tour!
 * How Will We Work Together:**

__**Endangered Species Research and Sources**__

__Sources:__

1. http://www.amnh.org/nationalcenter/Endangered/ - Endangered! Exploring a world at risk. 2. http://school.eb.com/all/eb/article-9025128?query=california%20condor&ct=null - Encyclopedia Britannica 3. Grolier Encyclopedia-Condor 4. World Book-Condor 5. http://www.fws.gov/endangered/i/b0g.html -U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service 6. http://ecos.fws.gov/speciesProfile/SpeciesReport.do?spcode=B002 - U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service; Condors 7. Grzimek's Animal Life Encyclopedia, 2nd Edition, Volume 8: Michael Hutchins, Series Editor-Gale Group __**Questions:**__


 * 1. Where does your animal live, and what are its characteristics?**

//Locate your animal’s habitat (Where does it live? Does it migrate?)//

It is native to western and southern South America.

138 Condors live wild in Baja California, southern and central California, and northern Arizona.

There are now three active release sites managed by the Hopper Mountain NWR Complex. One in southern California managed by the Ventana Wilderness Society, and two administered by the Peregrine Fund.

Condors only migrate to find better food sources, but they never migrate far from their original habitats.

//Include all subspecies or varieties of your animal.//

1. Andean Condor (Vultur gryhus); A New World Vulture 2. Sympatric turkey vulture (Cathartes aura)

Related to the California Condor (Gymnogyps cahfornianus).

//Identify at least 10 characteristics that will give an in-depth, accurate description of your animal.//

1. Weight: 20-23 lbs.

2. Wingspan: 9.1 feet

3. Length: 45-55 inches.

4. They are mostly black, with bold white wing linings, and red-to-orange head, neck, and crop.They have blunt claws, and a triangle-shaped patch of white, visible only when air borne on the undersides of their wings.

5. They stay in cliffs, under large rocks, or in other natural cavities, including holes in redwood trees. 6. They do not build nests. Instead their eggs are laid in caves, holes, or among boulders.

7. The condor finds food through observing the behaviors of other species.

8. They can fly at more than 55 mph, and at altitudes of 15,000 feet.

9. They do not become sexually mature until they are 6 years old, and may not breed until 7 or 8. They have a life expectancy of about 60 years.

10. They only lay an egg every other year.


 * 2. Where and why is your animal endangered?**

//Locate where it is endangered (might not be endangered in all its habitats)//

It is endangered in all of its habitats.

//Identify the factors, environmental and/or anthropogenic (caused by man) that cause it to be endangered.//

1. It is threatened by lead and strychnine poisoning. (When a hunter shoots a deer, and the deer runs away wounded, and dies, the Condor eats the carcass and is poisoned by the lead in the bullet and caused by the bullet.) 2. Condor eggs, which are large and rare, were once favored by egg collectors. They only lay one egg every two years, and don’t begin breeding until they are 5-8 years old. 3. Their food source, carrion (dead animal flesh), is diminishing. 4. Shooting. 5. Urban development threatens their habitats. 6. Power lines being strung across its flight path.

//Provide statistics and other facts related to its endangerment.// (Many of these, and more facts will be stated elsewhere in these notes…) 1. It is critically endangered. 2. By 1982 there were only 20 left in the wild, and conservation efforts were made. 3. 138 Condors live wild in Baja California, southern and central California, and northern Arizona. 4. The California Condor Recovery Program was established in 1975. 5. The first law protecting the California Condors was passed as early as 1901. The law was unspecific, stating that you couldn’t take any bird or it’s eggs for any non-game purposes without a license. 6. The California Condor has been recognized by the Federal government as “endangered” since 1967.


 * 7. Where is your animal in captivity and/or conserved?**

//Locate at least two zoos and/or conservation centers where the animal is held.//

1.The California Condor Recovery Program was established in 1975 in cooperation with:

A. Los Angeles Zoo B. United States Fish and Wildlife Service (lead agency) C. California Fish and Game Department D. U.S. Forrest Service E. Zoological Society of San Diego F. Peregrine Fund G. Ventana Wilderness Society

Its goal is to establish two separate wild populations of 150 birds, containing at least 15 breeding pairs. In 1987 the last known breeding condor (AC9) was transported to the San Diego Wild Animal Park.

There are now three active release sites managed by the Hopper Mountain NWR Complex. One in southern California managed by the Ventana Wilderness Society, and two administered by the Peregrine Fund.

2. The Bitter Creek National Wildlife Refuge. 3. The Blue Ridge National Wildlife Refuge. 4. Condors are in captivity at:

A. The World Center for Birds of Prey B. Los Angeles Zoo C. The San Diego Wild Animal Park


 * 8. What is being done to restore your animal’s populations? Where is it being done?**

1. Mock Power lines are being placed in the baby condor’s flight pens, and release a small electrical shock to teach the condors not to rest on power lines, and to find more natural perches. 2. Hunters are being encouraged to use non-toxic bullets, and to bury their gut piles when they finish, because condors feed on dead animal’s carcasses.

//Locate where research is done on your animal and where efforts are underway to conserve its population (Note: It may be that this is done at the same location(s) you identified in #3)//

1. Many Condors were released into the Bitter Creek National Wildlife Refuge and…(look at #7, they are all listed there.) 2. The Blue Ridge National Wildlife Refuge.

//Identify the experts, leaders, and/or groups guiding the conservation//

1. U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service: plans to release captive-bred Condors in the Vermillion Cliffs, a remote art of the Glen Canyon Nation Recreation Area in northern Arizona. The goal is to build up a self-sustaining population of about 150 birds over several decades. The birds have been labeled “nonessential” to captive breeding programs to ease local’s concerns.

2. Lloyd F. Kiff: Western Foundation of Vertebrate Zoology, Camarillo, California Robert I. Mesta: U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service,Ventura, California Dr. Michael P. Wallace: Los Angeles Zoo, Los Angeles, California

These three men prepared the Recovery Plan for the California Condor (for Region 1 of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service: Portland, Oregon.)

//Outline any research and efforts to conserve the population//

1. In 1985-1986 four of the five known breeding pairs of wild California Condors lost at least one member. In an attempt to save the species, all remaining wild birds were rounded up for captive breeding programs. 27 Condors have been released since 1992.

2. The Species Survival Plan: captive-breeding programs administrated by the American Zoological Association.

3. The Banning of Dangerous Pesticides

4. CITES: Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora, and international agreement by 132 nations to prohibit trade in endangered wildlife.

5. (Also stated in question seven…) The California Condor Recovery Program was established in 1975 in cooperation with: The Los Angeles Zoo, United States Fish and Wildlife Service (lead agency), California Fish and Game Department, U.S. Forrest Service, Zoological Society of San Diego, Peregrine Fund, and the Ventana Wilderness Society.

Its goal is to establish two separate wild populations of 150 birds, containing at least 15 breeding pairs. In 1987 the last known breeding condor (AC9) was transported to the San Diego Wild Animal Park.

There are now three active release sites managed by the Hopper Mountain NWR Complex. One in southern California managed by the Ventana Wilderness Society, and two administered by the Peregrine Fund.

__**Extras to put in the Google Earth tour:**__

http://ecos.fws.gov/docs/federal_register/fr3017.pdf - A link to a special rule publications: Establishment of a Nonessential Experimental Population of California Condors in Northern Arizona.

http://ecos.fws.gov/docs/recovery_plan/960425.pdf - This is soooo cool! It’s the official government documents for the recovery plan of California Condors!

This Picture: The Range of the California Condor (The Image and the Source are on my jump drive, Katrina.)



A Population Graph: Again, the Image and its source are on my jump drive, Katrina.



All of these places can be added to the Google Earth Tour.

http://www.cacondorconservation.org/ - Link to the California Condor Conservation Website. (We can put it into one of the bubbles!!)


 * Photos**

Don van Dyke [|http://www.flickr.com/photos/dvd5/2222255796/

Cameron Boulton, [|http://www.flickr.com/photos/cboulton/855125482/



jimfrazier http://www.flickr.com/photos/jimfrazier/2111095767/



DKlinge http://www.flickr.com/photos/dklinge/377419038/

ehoyer, [|http://www.flickr.com/photos/flavor32/398487409/



ehoyer [|http://www.flickr.com/photos/flavor32/398487412/


 * Videos**

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8suKW4ZeLx4&feature=related

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XmRatEylBNg

1.http://www.lazoo.org/ 2.http://www.dfg.ca.gov/ 3.http://www.fs.fed.us/ 4.http://www.ventanaws.org/ 5.http://www.aza.org/ 6.http://www.chesterzoo.org/ 7.http://www.sandiegozoo.org/ 8.http://www.fws.gov/Refuges/profiles/index.cfm?id=81672 9.http://www.peregrinefund.org/world_center.asp 10.http://www.fws.gov/Refuges/profiles/index.cfm?id=81671
 * Links for Tour:**

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 * Final Google Earth Tour!