Someone shot and killed an extremely rare California condor near McPhee Reservoir in southwestern Colorado this spring, and wildlife officials are now asking for the public’s help in tracking down a poacher who eliminated one of the big birds that have been coaxed for decades into rewilding.
After avian flu in 2023 hit the complex condor revival program, there are only about 85 of the giants flying through canyons of northern Arizona and southern Utah, with occasional forays into Colorado. About 560 exist now from Mexico through the Southwest, and the reintroduction efforts recently expanded to the Pacific Northwest.
The shot condor was found just a day after it was killed in late March, Colorado Parks and Wildlife officials said Wednesday. The bird’s carcass was discovered west of McPhee Reservoir and northeast of Lewis, in a remote area. Cortez is the nearest larger town.
Colorado and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service have been working leads but made no progress. They hope the public might contribute information about the offender, who could face third-degree felony charges, prison and $5,000 fines under the Endangered Species Act.
Southwest CPW public information officer John Livingston said the condors cross over into Colorado only once every few years. The last confirmed crossing of a condor into Colorado was in 2015, but then the condor disappeared from the tracker for a time, raising alarms. It then reappeared alive and well after a tracking device malfunction was resolved, Livingston said.
The poached condor was also being tracked by U.S. Fish and Wildlife, as all condors are, and federal agents sent CPW’s Durango office word in March that a tracker had reported no movement in a bird. An officer went to the given coordinates and discovered the shot condor, Livingston said.
There are few excused outs for any condor poacher, he added. “A condor being what it is” — up to a 10-foot wingspan — they could only be mistaken for a golden or bald eagle, which also cannot be shot. “There is no justifiable excuse or mix-up,” Livingston said. And even if there were, the shooter is required to report the accident right away.
An intricate network of bird rescue operations and zoo breeding, combined with long acclimation and mentoring efforts for fledglings to grow accustomed to the wild, has revived California condor numbers since a low of 22 in the world in 1987. At that time, all the known wild condors were captured and became a captive breeding population. The birds had been in decline since the late 1800s through a combination of sport shooting, eating poisoned mammal carcasses, pesticides and loss of habitat to development.
Releases have restored hundreds to the wild. More than half the 560 are living free in the southwestern states and Mexico, state officials said.
Tipsters can remain confidential, and useful information might lead to a reward, CPW said. They recommend contacting Colorado Parks and Wildlife, Colorado Operation Game Thief Hotline: 1-877-COLO-OGT (1-877-265-6648); email: [email protected]; website: Submit a Tip. Or, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service: tip line: 844-397-8477; website: Submit a Tip.
Colorado wildlife officers and enthusiasts take endangered species deaths hard, Livingston said. Professionals can spend their entire careers raising, releasing and tracking condors.
“It’s tough when you hear that news,” he said. “It’s a sad story.”
This article by Michael Booth was first published by KSUT on 6 September 2024. Lead Image: U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service, courtesy of Chris Trent – Condors at California’s Hopper Mountain National Wildlife Refuge.
What you can do
Help to save wildlife by donating as little as $1 – It only takes a minute.
