Park workers scale cliffs to give ‘adorable fluffballs’ a health exam. See the photos
Park workers scaled cliffs to give “adorable fluffballs” medical exams at a Central California national park.
The two California condors are being monitored at separate nests in Pinnacles National Park, officials said in a July 27 Facebook post.
But it was time for the baby birds to have a health checkup, so park workers and a veterinarian used ropes to climb tall cliffs to reach them.
Once workers reached the condors’ nests, they put “modified” baby socks over their heads to keep the birds calm, park officials said.
“Then, the adorable fluffballs were examined by the crew and a veterinarian to assess their health,” officials said in the post.
They took blood samples to determine their sex and test for lead. Condor parents could accidentally feed them meat with fragments from lead bullets, which could kill them, officials said.
But their blood levels for lead were both low, officials said.
“After getting a clean bill of health, both nestlings were placed back in their respective nests under their parents’ watchful eyes,” the park said.
California condors become fully grown when they are about 6 months old. Condor 1215 is 45 days old, and condor 1238 is 69 days old as of July 28.
These two birds will begin flying in November, and they could live over 60 years.
California condors are an endangered species
California condors were ruled an endangered species under federal law in 1967. They were then listed as endangered at a state level in California in 1971.
In 1979, there were 25 to 35 condors in the wild and one in captivity.
Because of their dwindling numbers, conservation groups began forming to protect the animals from extinction.
Now there are several release sites in North America where biologists monitor the “flock’s behaviors, movements, nesting attempts, and mortalities,” officials said. Pinnacles National Park is one site.
As of 2017, there were more than 460 condors in the wild and in captivity, with about 170 of them in California.
This story was originally published July 28, 2023 at 3:27 PM with the headline "Park workers scale cliffs to give ‘adorable fluffballs’ a health exam. See the photos."
