Ecobreves – VENEZUELA: Reinstating the Condor

By IPS Correspondents and - - Reprint | | Print |

CARACAS, Oct 13 2002 (IPS) - Raising hatchlings in captivity and educating the public are the main strategies of the Bioandina Foundation to restore populations of the condor, a bird that has not been found in the Venezuelan Andes for many years. The program to reinsert the condor into the Venezuelan environment is four years old and has so far focused on curbing the factors that led to the bird's disappearance in the first place.

These impressive birds once flew over the western Sierra Nevada of Mérida state, but were decimated by the human population in the area who killed them believing that the condors attacked their livestock.

Seven adult birds have been released into the habitat. Several chicks produced in captivity will join them once they are ready to fly.