Endangered condors missing after California wildfire

A California wildfire has destroyed a sanctuary for endangered California condors in the Big Sur mountains and the fates of more than a dozen giant birds, including some chicks, is unknown.

The blaze burned land and research buildings at the 80-acre sanctuary that has been used to release captive-bred condors into the wild for more than 20 years. About 100 adult condors make their home at the sanctuary, said Kelly Sorenson, executive director of the Ventana Wildlife Society.

The sanctuary lost pens, a research building and other facilities. The nonprofit Ventana Wildlife Society of Monterey, which ran the facility, was seeking $500,000 in donations to rebuild it. There weren't any people at the sanctuary when it burned.

Researchers are trying to locate 10 condors that have radio tags for tracking. The blaze burned through areas with redwood trees containing four nests with condor chicks, but researchers cannot check on them because the area still has active fire, Sorenson said.

One is a 4-month-old condor chick named Iniko that was living in a nest in a redwood tree about a mile (1.6 kilometers) from the facility. The chick was too young to fly.

The parents flew away as the fire approached but Sorenson said the remote camera that monitored the nest was destroyed on Thursday as he and his family watched from home.

The so-called Dolan Fire is one of hundreds of wildfires that have killed at least seven people, burned nearly 1,300 homes and other buildings, and prompted evacuation orders that still affect an estimated 170,000 people.

One man was arrested on suspicion of arson in connection with the blaze.

Previous fires in central California have burned condor territory. Six burned near condor nests and in five cases, the chicks survived in the hardy, fire-resistant redwood trees, Sorenson said.

The California condor is the largest North American land bird, with a wingspan of up to 9 feet (about 2.7 meters).

In the early 1980s, all 22 condors remaining in the wild were trapped and brought into a captive-breeding program that began releasing the giant vultures into Southern California's Los Padres National Forest in 1992.

That flock has been expanding its range while other condors now occupy parts of California's Central Coast, Arizona, Utah and Baja California, Mexico. There are more than 100 birds in central California. The total wild population now numbers about 340 birds.