*NEWS*CALIF CONDORS TO RETURN 2 SAN DIEGO

[Anonymous]

California Condors May Soon Return to San Diego
Free-Flying Birds Last Seen in 1910
SAN
DIEGO (Oct. 05) – California condors are expected to return soon to the
skies over San Diego County, nearly a century after they disappeared.
The
condor is North America’s biggest bird, with wingspans up to 9 feet.
Hunting, pesticides and development drove the birds, once seen coast to
coast, to the brink of extinction.
Scientists
say condors released in Mexico three years ago have made exploratory
flights within 15 miles of the United States, and they believe the
birds will cross the border in the next few months.
“I thought it would be several years from now,” said Mike Wallace, a team leader with the California Condor Recovery Program.
The
condor is North America’s biggest bird, with wingspans up to 9 feet. It
could once be found from coast to coast, but hunting, pesticides and
development drove the birds to the brink of extinction.
The last documented sighting of a free-flying condor in San Diego was in 1910.
Eleven condors are exploring the mountain ridge that leads them toward the U.S.-Mexico border.
The
goal is to have condors released in central California meet up with the
population living in Mexico. To date, the 40-50 birds released in
central California have flown as far south as the San Bernardino
Mountains, east of Los Angeles.

[Author]

October 19, 2005 at 10:56 AM