REDWOOD NATIONAL PARK, Calif. (AP) — The endangered California condor returned to soar the skies over the state’s far northern coast redwood forests on Tuesday for the first time in more than a century.
Highlights
- The endangered California condor has returned to the skies over the state’s far northern coast redwood forests for the first time in more than a century.
- Two captive-bred birds were released Tuesday in Redwood National Park, an hour’s drive south of the Oregon state line.
- Condors were last spotted in the park area around 1892, authorities said.
- The scavenger was once widespread but had virtually disappeared by the 1970s because of poaching, lead poisoning from eating animals shot by hunters and destruction of its habitat.
- The birds can live for 60 years and fly vast distances in search of carrion, so their range could extend into several states.