The Strugle for the California Condor
THE STRUGGLE FOR THE CALIFORNIA CONDOR The natural environment of the modern world has been under siege for the better part of the past century. This has been due to many factors. The waste produced by an ever-expanding human population has tainted much of the natural resources available to both humans and animals alike. Efforts to curb this waste output and to more effectively dispose of the waste have failed in the mainstream. The constant change of the common environment instituted by humans who have collectively sought to modify their own habitat has exacted a high toll on the available habitat for lesser creatures. Constant waste production, poor disposal, and habitat encroachment have combined to render the balance of the natural world asunder. "The delicate and intricate balance of the natural world has been damaged by a dominant species that has commonly disregarded its inherent responsibility to garnish its actions concurrent with the world it shares with the rest of nature" (Center for Reproduction of Endangered Species. p3). An all too common result of this imbalance is the expiration of entire species of animals that
The facilities used for this captive-breeding program were designed to allow limited flapping and mobility for the birds, thus mitigating the stress of captivity. This leads to perhaps the most central question concerning conservation in general. Many people accept programs such as these as progress toward mending the damage inflicted by humans on the environment. The incubation period of these birds was found to be fifty-four to fifty-eight days, with each parent taking turns guarding the nest. First, does answering the slow regeneration problem through captive double clutching fix the problem of extinction or simply delay a symptom? It is important to recognize that the numbers of wild condors were diminished to the point of near extinction as a result of human destruction of habitat. Their bills are exquisitely adapted to tearing animal flesh, and their digestive systems are specially suited to digesting rotting flesh. If the birds choose to perch on the mock poles rather than on the available trees, they are provided negative reinforcement by way of a mild shock. This reproductive profile rendered the condor population sensitive to hunting and encroachment because they required so long a period of time to regenerate losses in population. The ability of these birds to roam these territories in search of food was found to be incredible, with some specimens gliding on large wings as far as ten miles with no wing movement. "A mature female will lay one egg only every two years, and the young are fed throughout most of their eighteen to twenty month adolescence.
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Acceptance Essays
