6 Condor Fledglings to Go Free Next Week

Six rare California condors raised in captivity were taken Wednesday deep into Los Padres National Forest where they will be released next week as part of the eight-year effort to repopulate the endangered species.

Unlike other fledglings introduced into the wild, this group has been subjected to mild electrical shocks and other hazing so they learn to fear people and avoid man-made hazards.

Wildlife biologists brought in an accomplished bird trainer to set up the aversion-training program after one California condor, released into the wilderness, died from drinking anti-freeze and four others perished when they made contact with power lines.

“The problem is that we have no mature adults to show them the ropes,” said Marc Weitzel, director of the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service’s condor recovery program in Ventura. “So it is like releasing a bunch of wild teen-agers.”

Weitzel said biologists are trying to fulfill their roles as surrogate parents who can give the curious vultures the healthy dose of fear that can save their lives.

As part of the education, biologists installed a mock power pole in the group’s cage at the Los Angeles Zoo. Every time a condor lands on the power pole, it gets a mild electric shock.

The condors quickly learned not to light on the poles, said Mike Wallace, curator of conservation and science at the zoo.

And the first few times the young condors saw human beings, biologists rushed into their big cage, grabbed the birds with bare hands and wrestled them into crates. The hazing appears to work: frightening the birds without harming them.

Wallace marvels at what biologists are doing for the condors’ own good. After months of coddling them as chicks, he said, “now we are trying to scare the guano out of them. Who would think it would have come to that?”