8 California condors died in 2023 — including 4 from lead poisoning

Year after year, unfailingly, the most consistent lethal threat to the California Condor Recovery Program is lead poisoning.

And again in 2023, mortality resulting from these enormous birds eating carcasses downed by lead ammunition has caught up with four of the eight condors that died this year, according to Ventana Wildlife Society.

Big Sur condors Wassak (#968), Poseidon (#697) and Wilbur (#696), along with #700 from Pinnacles, all perished from lead poisoning.

A landslide buried Pinnacles’ #1082; “Big Gulp” (#711) died from trauma; (#663) Junipero’s passing is yet to be determined; and Pinnacles’ (#602) death is awaiting the necropsy report.

“Missing” but feared dead are two more condors: Traveler (#171) has been unaccounted for since Oct. 5; and Madrone (#1100) has not been heard from since June 23.

Those negative data notwithstanding, 100 condors are now flying free in the Central California skies.

“It’s cool to see the triple digits again,” said VWS senior wildlife biologist Joe Burnett during November’s monthly Zoom “Condor Chat.”

“The last time we hit triple digits was right before the Dolan Fire in 2020,” he said. That fire took the lives of 12 condors and burned 125,000 acres.

Dolan Fire arsonist Ivan Gomez, 31, was found guilty of 16 felony counts, including cruelty to animals, and is serving 24 years in state prison.

So while eight (and perhaps 10) condors — North America’s largest land bird that can soar to 10,000 feet and fly 200 miles in a single day — perished in 2023, VWS revitalized the flock by releasing 10 juveniles from the rugged mountains above San Simeon — six captive raised birds on Nov. 28 and four on Dec. 12.

Moreover, four condor chicks were fledged in 2023: two from the Big Sur Coast, Kodama (#646) and Miracle (#538); and a pair from Pinnacles, Tiny (#236) and Phoebe (#569).

Recent lead poisoning deaths

Thirty-two California condors have died due to lead poisoning since 2018, according to VWS.

While only three birds died of lead poisoning in 2022, seven died from lead poisoning in 2019; eight died in 2020; 10 died in 2021, and four in 2023.

The goal of the California Condor Recovery Program is to have 150 of the birds in the air.

VWS executive director Kelly Sorenson said in an interview, “If lead poisoning wasn’t such a huge problem, condors would have been expected to reach (150) by 2025.”

But given the same trends as the past five years, “It will take 20 years to increase the population to 150 condors,” he added.

Sorenson went on: “The fact remains, condors can only be self-sustaining when lead poisoning is significantly reduced.”

When the ban on the use of lead ammunition — for hunters taking wildlife with a firearm — went into law in California on July 1, 2019, there was hope for a reduction in lead-poisoning deaths.

But Sorenson pointed out that “hunters, sportsmen and ranchers are not always able to find non-lead, copper ammunition in their local stores.”

Hence, since the most commonly used caliber for bullets, .22 caliber, is “the least likely to be found in gun shops,” it’s easy to see why lead poisoning continues to plague condors, the VWS executive director explained.

For information on how to get lead-free ammunition through VWS: visit vws.org/ammunition.html.