{"id":21158,"date":"2025-09-03T12:32:46","date_gmt":"2025-09-03T19:32:46","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.azgfd.com\/?p=21158"},"modified":"2025-09-03T12:35:22","modified_gmt":"2025-09-03T19:35:22","slug":"5-new-condors-for-arizona-utah-flock","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.azgfd.com\/2025\/09\/03\/5-new-condors-for-arizona-utah-flock\/","title":{"rendered":"Five new condors for arizona-utah flock"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

NEWS RELEASE<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Sept. 5, 2025<\/p>\n\n\n\n

VERMILION CLIFFS, Ariz. \u2013 Partners in Arizona-Utah California Condor conservation, including the Arizona Game and Fish Department (AZGFD), will gather to celebrate Public Lands Day on Saturday, Sept. 27, by witnessing five new members of the Arizona-Utah flock of endangered California condors take to the sky for the first time.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

This year\u2019s event, hosted by The Peregrine Fund and the Bureau of Land Management, marks its 29th anniversary and will again feature an in-person celebration at the condor viewing site <\/a>in the valley below the release pen, as well as a livestream of the release on the Peregrine Fund\u2019s YouTube channel<\/a>. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The five new condors, hatched and raised at the Oregon Zoo and the San Diego Zoo Safari Park, are healthy and ready to join the flock. Their release marks a return to normalcy for The Peregrine Fund\u2019s Condor Release and Management Facility, which evacuated two resident \u201cmentor condors\u201d and one rehabilitating condor during the White Sage Fire. The captive birds were moved from the clifftop flight pen to a safe location below. The wild flock members stayed safe by avoiding the area entirely.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cMost of the condors take up residence in the Utah high country during the summer where there is ample food, so overall impact to their normal activity was minimal,\u201d said Tim Hauck, The Peregrine Fund\u2019s California condor program director. \u201cThere also didn\u2019t happen to be any active nest locations near the fire, which would have posed a risk to young birds that cannot yet fly.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

There is one way that the wild condors are being affected by the fire \u2013 North Rim closures mean less traffic on Highway 67, leading to less roadkill for the birds to scavenge. Because of this, condors are likely to look in new areas for food and drivers may encounter them in unexpected locations. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWe remind folks to be aware of these big birds when traveling in condor country,\u201d said Hauck. \u201cOn occasion, they will feed on the shoulder where roadkill often ends up.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

With the smoke now clearing, care is back to normal at the Condor Release and Management Facility. That means focusing on the most persistent threat to endangered condors and their leading diagnosed cause of death: Lead poisoning. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Studies suggest that lead shot and bullet fragments found in animal carcasses and gut piles are the most likely source of lead exposure. To help combat this, AZGFD runs a lead reduction program, offering lead-free ammunition to anyone hunting in condor country. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThis year’s hunters are very engaged in this conservation program and have been requesting lead-free ammo for their upcoming hunts,\u201d said Erin Brown, AZGFD lead reduction program coordinator. \u201cHaving hunters on board is so essential because lead poisoning is population-limiting for these birds and one of the main challenges to reaching a self-sustaining population.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n

This will be just the second release since the deadly avian influenza outbreak in 2023 that killed 20% of the Arizona-Utah flock and kept any new birds from being released that year. With 24 birds successfully released in 2024 and five more set to take flight in September, the new infusion of valuable genetic diversity will be vital to the recovery of this flock. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

For details on attending the event in person or watching the livestream, visit              The Peregrine Fund\u2019s event page<\/a>. <\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Arizona-Utah California condor conservation effort is a cooperative program by federal, state, and private partners, including The Peregrine Fund, the Bureau of Land Management\u2019s Vermilion Cliffs National Monument, and the Bureau of Land Management in Utah (BLM), Arizona Game and Fish Department, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, Grand Canyon and Zion National Parks, Utah Division of Wildlife Resources, Kaibab and Dixie National Forests, and tribes (Kaibab Band of Paiute Indians [Kaibab-Paiute Tribe] and Navajo Nation), among many other supporting groups and individuals. <\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Learn more about condor recovery efforts and the non-lead initiative<\/em><\/strong><\/a>.<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Despite White Sage Fire, endangered CA condors will take first flight on Public Lands Day. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":16,"featured_media":21160,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[92],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-21158","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-main-site"],"yoast_head":"\nFive new condors for arizona-utah flock - Arizona Game & Fish Department<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.azgfd.com\/2025\/09\/03\/5-new-condors-for-arizona-utah-flock\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Five new condors for arizona-utah flock - Arizona Game & Fish Department\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Despite White Sage Fire, endangered CA condors will take first flight on Public Lands Day.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.azgfd.com\/2025\/09\/03\/5-new-condors-for-arizona-utah-flock\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Arizona Game & Fish Department\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2025-09-03T19:32:46+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2025-09-03T19:35:22+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/azgfd-portal-wordpress-pantheon.s3.us-west-2.amazonaws.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/03123213\/CA-Condor-no-ID-number_Hero-Image_1530.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1530\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"1024\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"agleich\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"agleich\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"4 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.azgfd.com\/2025\/09\/03\/5-new-condors-for-arizona-utah-flock\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.azgfd.com\/2025\/09\/03\/5-new-condors-for-arizona-utah-flock\/\",\"name\":\"Five new condors for arizona-utah flock - 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