It鈥檚 taken over a decade of planning and preparation by Yurok members to bring back the California condor to their tribal lands.
Tiana Williams-Claussen is the wildlife department director with the Yurok Tribe, which is managing the restoration program. She says the critically endangered condors play an important role as a scavenger, one that smaller vultures or raven鈥檚 can鈥檛 provide.
鈥淲e don鈥檛 have anything of the magnitude of condors. They鈥檙e actually really important to breaking into and breaking down the very large animals like elk and California sea lions that our smaller scavengers can鈥檛 get into," she says.
Williams-Claussen adds the condor is considered sacred in the Yurok Tribe and plays an integral part in the tribe鈥檚 world renewal ceremonies.
She says it's taken 12 years of research and assessments to ensure the flock is successful.
鈥淪everal years were actually put into assessing A: does the habitat still have what it takes to support condors," she says. "And looking at two of the major human impacts to Condors which is actually introduction of lead contamination to the system, and introduction of DDT.鈥�
Condors and other scavengers can ingest lead from bullets lodged in hunted animals. And DDT, while banned in the U.S. since 1972, remains in the environment for decades. Both contaminants, as well as poaching and habitat destruction, contributed to the near extinction of the species.
Williams-Claussen says they鈥檝e been very successful in working with local hunters to switch to lead-free bullets. And testing shows DDT isn鈥檛 a significant issue around the park.
Four juvenile birds arrived from several zoos this week. They are expected to be released into the wild later this month.
The facility is also host to one adult condor, which Williams-Claussen says can't be released into the wild, but will act as a teacher for the younger birds to helping them learn skills they need to thrive.
After the condors are released, they'll be monitored extensively to keep track of their health.
Williams-Claussen says the goal is to release four to six condors every year for the next 20 years, eventually forming a self-sustaining population in the region once again.
