http://www.boston.com/dailynews/087/nation/A_wild_condor_lays_an_egg_for_:.shtml

A wild condor lays an egg for the first time since release program

By Foster Klug, Associated Press, 3/28/2001 15:05

PHOENIX (AP) A California condor laid an egg in the wild for the first time since scientists began rearing, breeding and releasing the endangered birds in 1986.

The egg, found Sunday in a cave on the North Rim of Grand Canyon National Park, was cracked and nothing will hatch from it, but scientists called the discovery a major success in the condor release program.

''This tells us that captured birds released to the wild can lay an egg,'' said Jeff Humphrey, Arizona's condor reintroduction coordinator for the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. ''It's a significant benchmark.''

The condor, a vulture-like scavenger, disappeared outside of California by 1924 and was listed as endangered in 1967.

The 6-year-old female that laid the egg was hatched in the San Diego Wild Animal Park. It was released in 1997 at the Vermillion Cliffs, 30 miles north of Grand Canyon National Park.

''We're terribly excited about this,'' said Maureen Oltrogge, a spokeswoman for Grand Canyon National Park. ''It's the reward for a lot of hard work over the years.''

There are 160 endangered condors left in the world, with 25 living in the wild in Arizona. Scientists hope eventually to have a population of 150 condors in the Arizona wilderness, as well as boost the population along California's mountainous northern coast and in captivity.

Scientists are eager to retrieve and study the egg, but are waiting to see if another pair of condors in the area will breed.

''The birds in the wild now are trying to learn how to do this on their own,'' Humphrey said. ''They don't have a frame of reference where they've seen other birds do it before.''

-- Anonymous, March 29, 2001