Condors getting too friendly; park cracks down

Wednesday, July 21, 1999 | 9:36 a.m.

Park officials said Tuesday they were implementing stringent emergency measures to protect the big birds being reintroduced into an area where they last few seen in the 1920s but which had been their homes for centuries.

Effective immediately, the park service said, canyon visitors must stay at least 300 feet from any condors they see.

Visitors also are barred from feeding them or leaving food for them, and visitors who see the birds are supposed to report details of the sightings to a park ranger as soon as possible.

Additionally, park overlooks and other sites may be closed on occasion during the late afternoon and early morning hours when condors typically roost, the service said. The areas will be closed as necessary and for as long as the birds remain in the vicinity, but typically that will be only for short periods, the service said.

The regulations are needed because some the condors, an endangered species with wing spans of up to 12 feet, have been landing in "areas of high visitor use," and there have been "several condor-human interactions," the service said without giving specifics.

The Peregrine Fund has released 28 captive-born condors into the wild in the Vermilion and Hurricane cliffs of northern Arizona near the Utah border since late 1996.

Though the release areas are considerable distance from the portions of the canyon that draw lots of visitors, the birds fly up to 150 miles a day and are known to have traveled well into other parks in Utah.

During the last month, some have begun frequenting points along the rim in search of food, the service said. Like vultures, condors are scavengers and feed on animal carcasses.

"It is important that the condors remain wild and not become dependent on humans for food since they are curious and social birds that seem to show little fear of humans," the service said in a prepared statement. "It is vital to the successful reintroduction of these endangered birds that they do not become accustomed to being around people."

For their part, rangers will haze away any birds seen in visitor areas by flapping their arms and making loud noises, the service said.

There are about 150 California condors, including nearly 50 in the wild. The population had dropped to a low of 27 by 1987 and the birds had disappeared entirely in Arizona after ranging from Baja California to British Columbia for thousands of years.

Since December 1996, three of the birds released in Arizona were killed, another vanished and is presumed to have died, and one was returned to captivity after being too friendly with humans.

Wildlife officials want to triple the world's condor population.