Page 28 - ARUBA TODAY

A28 SCIENCE
Friday 22 September 2017

California condors return to the skies after near extinction

By TERENCE CHEA eat dead animals shot the birds, trying to protect
Associated Press with lead bullets. Califor- them and provide sanc-
BIG SUR, Calif. (AP) — nia banned the use of lead tuary, we were literally
In a remote, rugged val- ammunition near condor writing the book how you
ley overlooking the Pacific feeding grounds in 2008 propagate a species, how
Ocean, researchers closely and will be the first state to you genetically manage it
monitor an endangered ban lead bullets in all hunt- and prepare it for release
icon: the California con- ing in 2019. back in the wild,” Michael
dor. “We’re already starting to Mace, the zoo’s birds cura-
The giant vultures flap their see fewer lead deaths. The tor.
wings and circle the sky be- condors are surviving lon- After up to a year at the
fore perching on branches ger. zoo, chicks are taken to
and observing their ob- Their blood-lead levels are a release site such as the
servers. Wildlife biologist coming down,” Sorenson Big Sur sanctuary, where a
Amy List uses a handheld In this Wednesday, June 21, 2017 photo, California condors hud- said. flock has grown to about
dle around a watering hole in the Ventana Wilderness east of
antenna to track the birds, Big Sur, Calif. Some gun owners com- 90 condors that travel be-
which wear radio transmit- Associated Press plain that copper bullets tween Big Sur and Pinna-
ters and numbered tags. are more expensive and cles National Park.
“If we don’t know what less effective than lead They scavenge, breed and
they’re doing, we don’t ity. California since the 1980s. and point to other possible raise chicks on their own,
know what’s going wrong,” Those efforts have led to a “We’re seeing very en- sources of lead, such as under the close watch of
said List, who works for the slow but steady recovery couraging results that the paint and metal garbage. List, the wildlife biologist,
Ventana Wildlife Society, for a species that repro- condors can become self- “Condors are getting lead and her colleagues.
which manages the con- duces slowly compared sustaining again,” said Kel- poisoning. “I hope that I’m out of a
dor sanctuary in Big Sur. with other birds. There are ly Sorenson, who heads the The question is, are they job soon because condors
Three decades after being now roughly 450 condors, conservation group. getting it from lead ammu- don’t need to be man-
pushed to the brink of ex- including about 270 in the While condors still face nition?” said Chuck Michel, aged in the future,” she
tinction, the California con- wild in California, Arizona, threats from exposure to president of the California said.
dor is making a comeback Utah and northeastern mercury and the pesticide Pistol and Rifle Association. “I hope that they’re self-
in the wild, but constant Mexico. DDT, biologists say the big- Meanwhile, the San Diego sustaining and wild and
vigilance is needed to en- Plans also are underway to gest danger is lead ammu- Zoo celebrated the birth of free, and nobody needs to
sure the endangered bird release some captive-bred nition, which can poison its 200th condor this year. trap or tag or monitor them
doesn’t reverse course. condors in Redwood Na- the scavengers when they “While we were caring for at all.”q
One of the world’s largest tional Park in 2019 to estab-
birds with a wingspan up to lish a population near the Foundation to create special reserve
California-Oregon border.
10 feet, the condor once Federal officials said in Au- for albino orangutan
patrolled the sky from Mex-
ico to British Columbia. But gust that for the first time By STEPHEN WRIGHT said the foundation is start- near its orangutan reha-
its population plummeted in nearly 40 years, condors Associated Press
in the 20th century due to were roosting in the Blue JAKARTA, Indonesia (AP) ing a public appeal to raise bilitation center in central
$80,000 needed to buy Kalimantan on the giant is-
lead poisoning, hunting Ridge National Wildlife Ref- — A conservation group
and habitat destruction. uge, expanding to their his- in Indonesia says it wants land for the special reserve land of Borneo.q
In 1987, wildlife officials torical range in the south- to create a 5-hectare (12-
captured the last remain- ern Sierra Nevada. acre) “forest island” for the
ing 22 condors and took Another milestone was world’s only known albino
them to the San Diego and reached this summer: the orangutan after rescuing
Los Angeles zoos to be pro- first “third generation” con- it from villagers earlier this
tected and bred in captiv- dor was born in the wild in year.
Borneo Orangutan Survival
CALL FOR OUR MODEL, GIRL & STRIPPERS Foundation said Wednes-
day that the 5-year-old
orangutan, which it named
Alba, can’t be safely re-
turned to the wild because
of health issues related to
her albinism including poor
Tour to the Red Light Lipstixaruba@outlook.com sight and hearing and the
District with a Private likelihood of skin cancer In this undated photo released by Borneo Orangutan Survival
(BOS) Foundation, Alba, an albino orangutan, sits on a branch
Guide & a FREE bottle later in life. of a tree while eating watermelon at Nyaru Menteng Orangutan
of wine... Spokesman Nico Hermanu Rehabilitation Center in Central Kalimantan, Indonesia.