How you can help:
• Make a check out to "Zoological Society of San Diego" and mail it to:
San Diego Zoo
California Condor Fire Relief Fund
P.O. Box 120551
San Diego, CA 92112
• If you have any questions concerning our efforts to aid the California condors affected by the recent fires, you can contact us at onlinedonor@sandiegozoo.org or call 619-557-3915.
Big Sur fire devastates California condor sanctuary:
Please help us rebuild it!
In mid-summer 2008, a fire raged through the Big Sur area of Northern California and destroyed 163,000 acres of California condor habitat, where birds hatched and raised at the San Diego Zoo's Wild Animal Park are flying free. Biologists from the Ventana Wildlife Society—a condor conservation partner of the San Diego Zoo—evacuated and saved seven young birds awaiting release at their Big Sur Condor Sanctuary as well as an older mentor bird.
When Ventana biologists returned to the Santuary headquarters after the fire, they discovered that the two condor field pens—where condors hatched at the Wild Animal Park and other facilities are held, conditioned, and prepared for release into the wild—were totally destroyed. The sanctuary also lost other ancillary structures and valuable equipment; fortunately, a cabin that served as living quarters for the field staff survived.
Sadly, two of the 40-plus wild condors in the area were lost in the fire and presumed dead, including condor No. 278, a 6-year-old male hatched at the Wild Animal Park. There is good news, too, though: biologists have found chicks alive in two of three wild condor nests that are located within the burned area. And, they suspect the third chick is also alive because they observed the parents continuously returning to the nest.
The San Diego Zoo is helping our condor conservation partner, the Ventana Wildlife Society, rebuild the California condor field pens in Big Sur. We are also helping them replace the equipment and supplies so that the field biologist can continue to track the free-flying condors and monitor the nests.
Your generosity in contributing to our efforts will be greatly appreciated and will help us continue our efforts to save this critically endangered species from extinction.
