Efforts to save California Condors after two found dead in Ventana

BIG SUR, Calif. (KION-TV) -- Two local California Condors passed away last week, highlighting the ongoing challenges for this species as well as the impacts on their future.

"We lost two of our older birds," said Senior Wildlife Biologist California Condor Recovery Program Manager Joe Burnett. "And, yeah, unfortunately, right in December we found they were a couple weeks apart, we found them dead."

Burnett said that the two Condors were 25 years old and he personally worked with them.

"[They were] two 25-year-old birds that actually I released 25 years ago down in Big Sur," he said. "[I] have followed their lives throughout."

According to the Ventana Wildlife Society, California Condors are still critically endangered.

"There's 560 in the world," said Brunett. "Basically, half of those are in captivity, half are in the wild. They're still a very fragile population."

Despite the death of the two birds, Ventana Wildlife Society is seeing a growth in the California Condor population along the Central Coast.

"Our population is at the highest level ever," said Brunett. "We're at 113 condors in Central California, we haven't been above 100 birds since we began."

He also said that Ventana Wildlife Society produced more chicks than in years past. They had nine total, whereas the previous record was five.

A common cause of Condor deaths, according to Ventana Wildlife Society, continue to be lead poisoning. In 2024, the organization says that they had four Condor deaths.

"We have been working really closely with, hunters and ranchers," said Brunett. "I think [that's] a big testament to the success this year, despite the losses."

According to Brunett, the Ventana Wildlife Society has received funds to help give away more lead-free ammo to hunters. "We think it's because a lot of the hunters and ranchers are switching to the non-lead ammo," he said.

Ventana Wildlife Society has more information about hunting with non-lead ammo available here.

When asked about the role of bird flu in California Condor deaths, Burnett said, "We've been vaccinating the entire condor flock. We're about halfway through vaccinating the birds to help protect them.

"Fortunately, we haven't had any highly pathogenic avian flu cases in condors yet in California," he added, stating that in Arizona they have. "They lost 21 birds to the avian flu last year and that was devastating."

In addition to bird flu, fire season can also pose a threat to the Condor population. Although so far this year, they have not been impacted, according to Burnett.

"This year, compared to 2020, [when] we had a wildfire that killed 12 Condors," he said. "Fortunately, in Southern California right now, the fires are not near the Condor areas. The Condor areas down there have not been impacted."

Burnett said that Ventana Wildlife won't know exactly what caused the bird's deaths until after the necropsy is finished.