The Sespe Condor Sanctuary is a

wildlife refuge A nature reserve (also known as a wildlife refuge, wildlife sanctuary, biosphere reserve or bioreserve, natural or nature preserve, or nature conservation area) is a protected area of importance for flora, fauna, or features of geological or ...

in the

Topatopa Mountains The Topatopa Mountains are a mountain range in Ventura County, California, north of Ojai, Santa Paula, and Fillmore. They are part of the Transverse Ranges of Southern California. Etymology A name for the mountains was first inscribed within the ...

, in northeastern

Ventura County Ventura County () is a County (United States), county in Southern California, the southern part of the U.S. state of California. As of the 2020 United States Census, 2020 census, the population was 843,843. The largest city is Oxnard, California ...

California California is a state in the Western United States, located along the Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the most populous U.S. state and the 3rd largest by area. It is also the m ...

. It is within the Sespe Wilderness in the southern

Los Padres National Forest Los Padres National Forest is a United States national forest in southern and central California. Administered by the United States Forest Service, Los Padres includes most of the mountainous land along the California coast from Ventura to Mo ...

History

The

United States Forest Service The United States Forest Service (USFS) is an agency of the U.S. Department of Agriculture that administers the nation's 154 national forests and 20 national grasslands. The Forest Service manages of land. Major divisions of the agency in ...

established the Sespe Condor Sanctuary in 1947 for the

California condor The California condor (''Gymnogyps californianus'') is a New World vulture and the largest North American land bird. It became extinct in the wild in 1987 when all remaining wild individuals were captured, but has since been reintroduced to nort ...

, an endangered species which is the largest living bird in North America. On January 14, 1992, two captive-bred California condors and two

Andean condor The Andean condor (''Vultur gryphus'') is a giant South American Cathartid vulture and is the only member of the genus ''Vultur''. Found in the Andes mountains and adjacent Pacific coasts of western South America, the Andean condor is the larg ...

s were released into the Sespe Condor Sanctuary, overlooking the Sespe Creek, near

Fillmore, California Fillmore is a small city in Ventura County, California, United States, in the Santa Clara River Valley. In an agricultural area with rich, fertile soil, Fillmore has a historic downtown that was established when the Southern Pacific built th ...

. This was done by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service's Hopper Mountain National Wildlife Refuge Complex, the lead office for the California Condor Recovery Program. These captive-bred condors thrived in the wild and have begun to

reproduce Reproduction (or procreation or breeding) is the biological process by which new individual organisms – "offspring" – are produced from their "parent" or parents. Reproduction is a fundamental feature of all known life; each individual org ...

freely. Before the sanctuary was established, numerous condors were killed by

power line An overhead power line is a structure used in electric power transmission and distribution to transmit electrical energy across large distances. It consists of one or more uninsulated electrical cables (commonly multiples of three for three-p ...

collisions. In order to circumvent this mishap, the captive condors were treated with "mock power poles" through the power pole aversion program. These poles emitted mild

shock Shock may refer to: Common uses Collective noun *Shock, a historic commercial term for a group of 60, see English numerals#Special names * Stook, or shock of grain, stacked sheaves Healthcare * Shock (circulatory), circulatory medical emergen ...

s when landed upon. They quickly learned to avoid power poles, which has significantly reduced their

mortality rate Mortality rate, or death rate, is a measure of the number of deaths (in general, or due to a specific cause) in a particular population, scaled to the size of that population, per unit of time. Mortality rate is typically expressed in units of d ...

Future plans

Currently the California Condor Recovery Program is in effect in

Arizona Arizona ( ; nv, Hoozdo Hahoodzo ; ood, Alĭ ṣonak ) is a state in the Southwestern United States. It is the 6th largest and the 14th most populous of the 50 states. Its capital and largest city is Phoenix. Arizona is part of the Fou ...

, and Baja. There are nearly 450 California condors in the world, with more than 275 flying free in the wild. California has four release sites, of which the Sespe Condor Sanctuary is one. With the advent of more natural condor births, more release sites are in the works.

References

{{Reflist

External links

California Condor Recovery Program
at th
Hopper Mountain National Wildlife Refuge Complex
Bird sanctuaries of the United States Nature reserves in California Los Padres National Forest Ojai Ranger District, Los Padres National Forest Topatopa Mountains Protected areas of Ventura County, California Protected areas established in 1947 1947 establishments in California Protected areas of Southern California

History

Future plans

See also

References

External links