Big Sur — Deep in this breathtaking wilderness, a California condor leaps from the sunlit skeleton of scorched ponderosa pines. Large wings cut through the mountain air, creating a low, rolling hum. Soon, he also leaps from a tree crowded with nearly ten majestic birds.

In a howling chorus of wind and wings, they soar over the construction site of the Ventana Wildlife Society’s Condor Sanctuary, which is being rebuilt from the ashes.

Just two years ago, the Dolan Wildfire hit the site, destroying the shelter and killing 12 condors. This was a staggering loss to decades of efforts to save species from extinction.

Now, after overcoming major challenges, the society is nearing completion of new and improved facilities to monitor and release these iconic birds into the wild.

It’s been a long road to recovery for Joe Burnett, Senior Wildlife Biologist at the Sanctuary and Society. , he watched helplessly on a remote video camera.

“You’re like, ‘Oh my God… we’re going to lose everything,'” Burnett recalls.

Oncoming flames consumed the camera’s cords, and the loss could not be assessed until two weeks later.

Nine birds and two chicks were missing and no bodies were found. One condor later died of an infection. The liberation pen, researcher’s cabin, and all equipment were not recovered.

The Society has raised $660,000 to support its recovery, nearly covering the cost of rebuilding the sanctuary.

After clearing trees and repairing roads, the reserve’s team had to clear debris from the burned facility. The wreckage of the facility contained traces of toxic metals, so the sanctuary staff had to hire a team of licensed hazardous waste specialists to clean up the burned structure.

Last summer, the society got the go-ahead from Monterey County officials to begin construction.

Construction at a remote facility was a complex logistics dance. To reach the site, he has to drive two hours on narrow dirt roads through winding mountain trails. The roads are impassable for most heavy construction machinery, so the concrete must be mixed and poured by hand on site. Much of the steel was prefabricated panels that were transported up the mountain and assembled by hand by Burnett and the contractor.

The loss of the reserve has hampered the care and release of the Big Sur condor, the largest land bird in North America.

Since 1997, the Ventana team has pioneered and perfected many of the standard procedures for capturing and releasing captive-bred condors. But without facilities, team members were unable to release the birds.

They were also unable to catch and treat condors injured or sick from lead poisoning. This is the result.

Before the fire, the association staff provided the birds with a safe diet and placed the clean carcasses in the sanctuary so that biologists could check the health of the birds. Birds that appeared sick were safely captured and sent to veterinarians at zoos in Los Angeles and Oakland. But without facilities, catching sick birds has become impossible in Big Sur.

The loss of facilities coincided with lockdowns due to COVID-19, affecting licensed ammunition distributors selling lead-free ammunition. As such, hunters may have returned to toxic bullets, leading to a spike in condor deaths from lead poisoning in 2020, said Kelly Sorenson, executive director of the association.

25 of 101 condors in central California died in 2020, 12 of them from lead poisoning. That year and the following year marked the biggest setbacks in the program’s history.

To fill the gap left by Ventana, other Condor conservation sites in the state have taken on special duties.

“The fire had a devastating effect,” said Ashley Blackford, California Condor Recovery Coordinator for the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. “But the amazing thing about our Condor program is that we have all these partners, so we can adapt and change.”

For now, the Pinnacles National Park and San Simeon facilities are taking over the Central California release. Then the Pinnacles team began capturing birds for treatment.

Blackford wants to revive the Big Sur Reserve. “Having all the release sites gives us flexibility for whatever happens next,” she says. “It’s like having all the tools at your fingertips.”

Once construction of the Ventana Sanctuary is complete, it will be better equipped to capture, treat and release condors than the original facility. The new cage is larger than the previous one, so it can accommodate more condors as the staff line up the clean carcasses.

Attached sheds allow researchers to observe birds without disturbing them. If necessary, the team can trap the bird and bring it through the sliding door into the coop for inspection.

The new facility also includes a state-of-the-art bunkhouse that doubles as a research center. This allows up to three researchers to monitor the birds overnight.

To protect the site from future fires, the Ventana team cut down trees that could serve as fuel and designed the building using fire-resistant materials.

The foundation of the bunkhouse was laid. And by the end of the month, the release pen should be finished. The association hopes to finish construction by late spring.

More than two years after the sanctuary disappeared, Sorenson is looking forward to that day.

“Then we will be fine again,” he said. “But it took time.”

save the california condor

Condors have been around for 2.5 million years. At its peak, it roamed North America, feeding on the carcasses of mammoths and other large mammals.

The California condor has a wingspan of 9.5 feet and can glide hundreds of miles a day at speeds of up to 40 mph.

A majestic bird can eat carrion in any state of decay. Their stomachs are equipped with an army of bacteria that ward off microscopic bugs that make other animals sick.

They are generally monogamous and form lifelong bonds. However, some condors nest in trios rather than pairs. These trios include two males and her one female, or two females and her one male.

In 1982 there were only 22 Condors left. Today, thanks to condor recovery efforts, 334 condors live in the wild in California, Arizona, Baja, California, Nevada, and Utah. Another 203 of his live in captivity.

In 2008, the Ventana Wildlife Society worked with the US Coast Guard to free a condor from the path of a massive Basin Complex Fire near Big Sur.

Source: Reported by Ventana Wildlife Society, Bay Area News Group.