VIDEO
HIGHLIGHT
Log InSign up
How we brought the condor back from the brink | Michael Mace | TEDxDeExtinction
SummaryTranscriptChat

How we brought the condor back from the brink | Michael Mace | TEDxDeExtinction

New Section

The speaker discusses the history and challenges faced by the California condor, emphasizing its uniqueness and the threats that led to its near-extinction.

The History of the California Condor

  • The condor is the largest flying bird in North America with a nine-and-a-half foot wingspan.
  • Being a K-select species, it has a slow reproductive rate and reaches sexual maturity at around five to six years.
  • In 1987, due to rapid decline caused by various factors like lead contamination and collisions with power lines, there was a debate on whether to let the species go extinct or intervene.
  • To prevent extinction, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service placed remaining birds in zoos for safeguarding.
  • Conservation efforts involved innovative strategies such as designing breeding centers like aviaries at the San Diego Zoo Safari Park.

Conservation Efforts and Breeding Strategies

This section delves into the conservation strategies employed to save the California condor from extinction through breeding programs and genetic management.

Conservation Innovations

  • Designing facilities with security measures like wire fences due to threats of people releasing condors back into harm's way.
  • Implementing double-clutching technique to increase chick production by allowing parents to raise replacement eggs in captivity.
  • Using hand puppets for feeding and socializing chicks to prevent imprinting issues before releasing them back into the wild.

Genetic Management and Population Safeguarding

Focuses on genetic considerations in managing small populations of condors for successful breeding programs and ensuring genetic diversity.

Genetic Management

  • Mapping genetic relatedness among individual condors when population was critically low at 22 birds.
  • Developing methods using DNA analysis to determine gender from hatched egg membranes for effective pairing in breeding programs.

Condor Conservation Efforts

In this section, the speaker discusses various conservation efforts aimed at protecting condors and ensuring their survival in the wild.

Techniques to Prevent Electrocution

  • The team used mock power poles wired to deliver a mild electric charge to deter condors from landing on actual power poles.
  • Behavior modification through shocks on power poles helped condors avoid hazardous areas when released back into the wild.

Challenges Faced in Condor Conservation

This part delves into unforeseen challenges encountered during condor conservation efforts, such as West Nile virus and environmental hazards.

Unforeseen Challenges

  • West Nile virus outbreak in 1999 posed a threat to condors, leading to vaccination of the entire population.
  • Microtrash in the environment caused issues for condors, requiring surgical intervention for removal.

Ecological Importance of Condors

The ecological significance of condors is explored, emphasizing their role as scavengers and cleaners of toxins in the environment.

Ecological Role

  • Condors play a vital role in cleaning up carcasses containing toxins like botulism and anthrax.
  • Despite being immune to certain toxins, condors face risks from lead ingestion due to hunting practices.

Mitigating Threats to Condors

Strategies are discussed to mitigate threats such as lead poisoning and collisions with wind turbines that endanger condor populations.

Mitigation Strategies

  • Lead poisoning poses a significant threat; collaboration with energy companies is crucial for developing solutions.
  • Anticipating challenges like wind turbines requires proactive measures such as adjusting habitat use based on spatial ecology research.

Collaborative Conservation Efforts

The importance of collaboration among diverse stakeholders for successful conservation initiatives is highlighted, showcasing collective efforts towards safeguarding condor populations.

Collaborative Approach

  • Collaboration with utility companies involves early detection systems and adjustments based on condor behavior.

New Section

In this section, the speaker discusses the successful reintroduction of a species into the wild and emphasizes the importance of conservation efforts for endangered animals.

Importance of Species Conservation

  • Over 400 condors are now flying freely in California, Arizona, and Baja, Mexico.
  • The speaker addresses the question of why resources are allocated to saving species like condors, pandas, elephants, and tigers.
  • Endangered species serve as environmental indicators, reflecting the health of our shared environment.
Video description

There were just twenty-two California condors left in the world in 1987 -- all of them in captivity -- a species on the brink of extinction. At TEDxDeExtinction, Michael Mace explains the remarkable efforts that have been made to save them and restore a wild population. Conservationists at the San Diego Zoo have managed a successful breeding, immunisation and monitoring program, and have been helped by utilities companies who have agreed to bury powerlines and utility poles near condor habitats -- giving the wild population, now numbering over 200, a fighting chance to survive on their own. Michael Mace is Curator of Birds for the San Diego Zoo Safari Park. He is responsible for the avian collection and related conservation programs that includes 20 endangered species. He participates in conservation field projects around the world involving endangered and threatened species such as the Andean condor in Colombia, White-bellied heron in Bhutan, Southern ground hornbill in South Africa, Red-necked ostrich in Niger, Guam rail, Light-footed Clapper rail in the United States and California condor in the United States and Mexico. To learn more about de-extinction, please visit Revive & Restore (the organizer of TEDxDeExtinction) here: http://longnow.org/revive/ In the spirit of ideas worth spreading, TEDx is a program of local, self-organized events that bring people together to share a TED-like experience. At a TEDx event, TEDTalks video and live speakers combine to spark deep discussion and connection in a small group. These local, self-organized events are branded TEDx, where x = independently organized TED event. The TED Conference provides general guidance for the TEDx program, but individual TEDx events are self-organized.* (*Subject to certain rules and regulations)