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After finding a California condor dead from highly pathogenic
avian influenza, or bird flu, in March, the U.S. Fish and
Wildlife Service sought help from the U.S. Department of
Agriculture. Since then, at least 13 condors with bird flu have
died, USDA said in a press release.
The deaths, all near the Arizona-Utah border, are alarming
considering the world population of California condors was
estimated at 561 at the end of 2022, including 347 free-flying
birds in three western states and Mexico and 214 in captivity,
according to the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service.
Before condors are vaccinated, the wildlife service will conduct
a pilot safety study starting this month on North American
vultures, marking the first time the vaccine has been tested on
wild birds in the United States, said Joanna Gilkeson, a
wildlife service spokesperson.
Bird flu has killed hundreds of millions of birds worldwide,
with the virus largely spread by wild birds that transmit it to
poultry.
While scientists work on poultry vaccines, commercial flocks for
now are protected by other measures such as segregation, USDA
said.
The California condor is one of the world's largest flying birds
with a wingspan of up to 9 feet (2.7 meters) and weighing more
than 20 pounds (9 kg), according to the California Department of
Fish and Wildlife.
The population was reduced to a few dozen birds by the 1970s
because of illegal killing, lead poisoning, poison bait and
environmental pollutants such as the pesticide DDT.
But a captive breeding program helped increase the population to
161 birds by 1999 from 27 in 1987, the state department said.
(Reporting by Daniel Trotta; editing by Grant McCool)
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