Condors returned to wild

  Jonathan T. Lovitt ;Haya El Nasser

  01/15/1992

  USA Today

  FINAL

  Page 03A

  (Copyright 1992)

  FILLMORE, Calif. - Environmentalists enjoyed a mountaintop celebration

  Tuesday as the California condor returned to the wild.

  Two young California condors - a female named Xewe (GAY-wee) and a male

  named Chocuyens (choo-KOO-yens) - were freed from their cage at 10:30 a.m.

  PST and flapped their wings on the edge of a 3,800-foot cliff, thanks to a $25

  million recovery program.

  The condors, the first of the endangered species to be freed, were expected to

  attempt short flights, but neither flew Tuesday.

  Two Andean condors - threatened but not endangered - were released to keep

  them company; one flew.

  Condors generally are regarded as homely at close range but are majestic in

  flight.

  ``We're dealing ultimately with our existence,'' says Mark Goldstein, Los

  Angeles Zoo director, where Xewe was born in April. ``They're nature's

  recyclers, garbage men. Without them, we're in trouble.''

  The vultures became almost extinct primarily because of lead poisoning and

  DDT. Only 27 remained by 1987, when all survivors were placed in captivity;

  there are now 52.

  Tuesday's release in the 84-square-mile Sespe Condor Sanctuary is a significant

  step in the controversial effort to save the condor, which costs about $1 million a

  year.

  ``It's a great day for our brother the condor,'' said Red Star, a Chumash Indian.

  The Chumash Indians, who believe condors carry the souls of the dead to

  heaven, opposed rounding up the remaining birds to put them in zoos.

  The ultimate goal is to have the condors breed again in the wild. But scientists

  will have to wait six more years - when the pair reach breeding age.

  GRAPHIC;b/w,Marty Baumann, USA TODAY (Map,Calif.)