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, funga, or features of geolog ...

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 t ...

, in northeastern

Ventura County Ventura County () is a county located in the southern part of the U.S. state of California. As of the 2020 census, the population was 843,843. The largest city is Oxnard, and the county seat is the city of Ventura. Ventura County comprises ...

California California () is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States that lies on the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. It borders Oregon to the north, Nevada and Arizona to the east, and shares Mexico–United States border, an ...

. 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 California, southern and central California. Administered by the United States Forest Service, Los Padres includes most of the mountainous land along the California coast ...

History

The

United States Forest Service The United States Forest Service (USFS) is an agency within the United States Department of Agriculture, U.S. Department of Agriculture. It administers the nation's 154 United States National Forest, national forests and 20 United States Natio ...

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 n ...

, an

endangered species An endangered species is a species that is very likely to become extinct in the near future, either worldwide or in a particular political jurisdiction. Endangered species may be at risk due to factors such as habitat loss, poaching, inv ...

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 South American New World vulture and is the only member of the genus ''Vultur''. It is found in the Andes mountains and adjacent Pacific coasts of western South America. With a maximum wingspan of and ...

s were released into the Sespe Condor Sanctuary, overlooking the

Sespe Creek Sespe Creek (Chumashan languages, Chumash: S'eqp'e', "Kneecap") is a stream, some long,U.S. Geological Survey. National Hydrography Dataset high-resolution flowline dataThe National Map accessed March 16, 2011 in Ventura County, California, Ve ...

, 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 the ...

. 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. There are two forms of reproduction: asexual and sexual. In asexual reprod ...

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 Electric power distribution, distribution to transmit electrical energy along large distances. It consists of one or more electrical conductor, conductors (commonly mu ...

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 Healthcare * Acute stress reaction, also known as psychological or mental shock ** Shell shock, soldiers' reaction to battle trauma * Circulatory shock, a medical emergency ** Cardiogenic shock, resulting from ...

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 Statistical population, population, scaled to the size of that population, per unit of time. Mortality rate is typically ...

Future plans

Currently the California Condor Recovery Program is in effect in

Arizona Arizona is a U.S. state, state in the Southwestern United States, Southwestern region of the United States, sharing the Four Corners region of the western United States with Colorado, New Mexico, and Utah. It also borders Nevada to the nort ...

, 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