Biologists Free Condor After Tests for Lead
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VENTURA — A California condor has been freed after being given a clean bill of health and fitted with a new radio tracking transmitter by biologists working to save the giant birds from extinction.
The 14-year-old male bird was released Thursday in a remote area about 100 miles northwest of Los Angeles, said Peter Bloom, who heads the capture program at the Condor Research Center in Ventura.
The vulture-like bird, captured Tuesday, was set free in hopes that it would join the three other condors believed to remain in the wild.
“Those four birds represent a breeding pair and two bachelor males,” Bloom said.
Another condor, believed to be 10 years old, was captured Monday and sent to the Los Angeles Zoo, where officials hope it will breed with a captive female.
The condor captured Tuesday had been tested and found to be free of high concentrations of lead that killed its mate in January. Condors usually get lead poisoning from feeding on carcasses of animals killed by lead shot.
The zoo now has four males and eight females, and there are five males and five females at the San Diego Wild Animal Park.
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