The Audubon Society published some excellent news on the California Condor's comeback tour:
After more than a century, California Condors are once again roaming the skies above the Pacific Northwest. Extinct in the wild as recently as the 1980s, the colossal birds with 10-foot wingspans have slowly been making a comeback across the West thanks to dedicated conservation efforts. Now, following 14 years of work, the Yurok Tribe has finally brought the birds home to another region of their historic range.
What a triumph of collaboration and conservation efforts to bring these majestic California Condors back from the brink of extinction.
In Yurok tradition, the tribe’s relationship with condors stretches back to the beginning of time. Condor feathers adorn regalia worn for world-renewal ceremonies, which also center the song of the condor—chosen by the Creator as the “most beautiful, the most powerful” song of all the animals, Williams-Clausen says. As the highest-flying bird in this part of the world, condors are believed to carry the prayers of Yurok dances intended to bring the world into balance. “Not having Condor here to help bridge the gap between the spirit and the physical world to help make that balance a reality is very harmful to us as tribal people,” she says, “because our entire reason for being is to make that balance happen.”
The Audubon Society provided a video of the release:
