Four California condors to be released in Big Sur Tuesday

Four California condors will be released into the wild for the first time Tuesday in Big Sur.

Ventana Wildlife Society biologists will be releasing the endangered birds around 10 a.m.

The organization has partnered with the Oakland Zoo and CamZone Networks to provide live-stream footage of the actual release and the birds’ transition from captivity to life in the wild.

“A typical condor release is largely uneventful as we want the birds to comfortably and slowly make this transition successfully,” says Kelly Sorenson, executive director of the Ventana Wildife Society. “The actual release itself is just the opening of the enclosure door and is the kind of thing that is best watched over a period of days and even weeks since it is up to the condors what they do next.”

The live-streaming webcams will be available at both the Oakland Zoo and Ventana Wildlife Society’s websites.

The Live-Streaming Webcam can be viewed at both Oakland Zoo and Ventana Wildlife Society‘s websites.

One of the condors scheduled for release suffered a broken wing last year when it was a chick. The female bird was taken to the Los Angeles Zoo for treatment. The other three condors are male.

As of Jan. 31, 2014, there were a total of 401 living condors – 232 of them in the wild. Fifty-eight condors live in Central California. In addition to Big Sur, condors are being released in Baja California, Arizona and southern California.

To view video footage from the Ventana Wildlife Society’s Big Sur condor sanctuary, click here.