help the Ventana Wildlife Society recover from the fires
California has been (and is continuing to be) devastated by wildfires. As of September 22, 2020, we’re coming up on four million acres burned. There are so many people and organizations in need of help, but this in particular is a cause near and dear to my heart.
The Ventana Wildlife Society is a nonprofit best known for their vital role in the California condor recovery program. California condors are listed as Critically Endangered on the IUCN red list. How endangered is that? Well, in 1987, their population was down to 27 individuals. Today, there’s just over five hundred, and that growth is due in large part to both federal agencies and nonprofits like the VWS. The Ventana Wildlife Society manages the Central California wild condor population, in conjunction with the National Park Service, in both Pinnacles National Park and the Big Sur Condor Sanctuary. In total, they monitor 101 free-flying condors.
Or well, they did, and here’s the part where I try not to cry. On August 18, 2020, a fire now known as the Dolan Fire started in Big Sur, California. As of today, this fire has burned 200 square miles of forest, including the Big Sur Condor Sanctuary, which consists of both the Ventana Wildlife Society’s release, medical, monitoring and research facilities as well as an enormous stretch of protected condor habitat. And horrifyingly, the spread of the fire was caught on a livestreamed nest cam, and viewers around the world watched condor chick #1031, named Iniko, panic before heat destroyed the camera. The following photo, from a different livestream, shows the fire destroying the thankfully empty release facility.
These losses are quite frankly devastating. VWS has lost all of their Big Sur facilities, which will be incredibly time and cost-intensive to replace. They are a fundamental part of the recovery program, and this is an enormous setback for the species. And although thankfully all staff and volunteers of the sanctuary made it out safely, the same is not true for the condors themselves. Chick Iniko miraculously survived, but appears unwell. Two condor chicks have been confirmed dead. And nine adult condors, missing since the start of the fire, are now presumed dead. Eleven dead, of five hundred in the world.
Ventana is already working to rebuild. They’re still searching for the missing condors, as much as the still burning fires allow. They are working with the National Park Service, US Fish and Wildlife Service, and other nonprofits to continue their mission despite these massive setbacks. They can come back from this, and the California condor can recover, but not without help.
If you can, please consider donating to their rebuilding fund or helping spread the word.
Thank you.
