Summary of Pan American Partnership in Condor Restoration

PanAmerican Partnership in Condor Restoration 2009

The giant scavenger with a 9 ½ foot wingspan that once soared over woolly mammoths still exists today, but just barely. In the 1980’s there were only 22 California condors left in the world. Since that time, through dedicated efforts of scientists and citizens, we are at just over 300. The same endangered plight is occurring in South America with cousin, the Andean condor. To share in conservation efforts and raise the profile of these endangered animals across continents, Pinnacles National Monument with counterparts in California and Argentina have formed a PanAmerican Partnership in Condor Restoration.

Thanks to generous grants from the National Park Foundation, San Juan Bautista Rotary Club and Pinnacles Partnership, a National Park Service team of Pinnacles condor biologists and managers went to Argentina in September 2008 to begin the exchange. The Andean condor ranges throughout much of South America. It is a close cousin of the California condor, where conservation strategies between the two condor species are very similar from both a biological and cultural perspective.

Accomplishments of the recent visit included:
1. Established a condor biologist exchange to share innovative technology and conservation methods. Pinnacles condor biologist Scott Scherbinski spent 6 weeks working intensively with the Argentine condor program.

Immediate benefits to the California program include using an innovative script developed by Argentine biologists that applies Google Earth to present the distribution and range of condors over time. This works well using the data collected from condors with wing mounted GPS transmitters. Other benefits include experiencing first hand the impressive close cultural connections in the Argentine program where local ranching communities and indigenous groups are key supporters and advocates for condor conservation. We are using this model to increase our efforts in this realm. For example, the Amah Mutsun tribe was a prominent participant in the November 2008 condor release ceremony - performing songs and stories about the cultural significance of the condor.


Pinnacles biologists identified ways in which the Argentina program could benefit from our methods. The first priority is to install a remotely triggered camera pointed at scale with a perch so that the Andean condors’ weight can be measured non-invasively. Our partners from the Ventana Wildlife Society will assist in making this purchase possible.

We are also providing a comprehensive literature review to a condor researcher at the University of Cordoba in Argentina.

2. Preparing a Memorandum of Agreement with a “sister park” Parque Nacional Quebrada del Condorito in the Argentine province of Cordoba. The 5 year agreement outlines commonalities between our parks and a desire to collaborate in condor related issues, but also in general park operations such as visitor services, trails, fire management, invasive species control and law enforcement.

3. Creating a tangible product of our partnership - a customized reusable bag with project logo and partners listed that acts as both a walking billboard from proud supporters and a project fundraiser. The bag also supports the ethic to lessen the use of disposable plastic bags - a chronic threat to wildlife around the world.

Goals of the PanAmerican Partnership in 2009:
1. Enable Argentine counterparts to tour California program. Bring one biologist and one park manager to California in 2009.

Measureable outcomes in 2009 include:
a) identify additional collaborative benefits.
b) receive Google Earth script from Fundacion Bioandina and apply to Pinnacles distribution data.
c) receive guidance from Fundacion Bioandina in improving the cultural aspects of condor reintroduction through closer connections to the ranching and indigenous communities (for example, we were provided some key contacts in North America to help us foster this effort in the indigenous community).
d) submit a joint grant proposal to address the major threat on both continents - secondary poisoning.
e) gain interest from a major periodical to highlight this PanAmerican effort.
f) finalize Memorandum of Agreement with Parque Nacional Quebrada del Condorito.
g) provide a remote camera and scale to the Argentina condor program (Fundacion Bioandina).
h) produce customized reuseable bag and find vendors for its distribution and sale in the United States and Argentina.