Joined: Wed Jan 02, 2013 10:41 am Posts: 12697
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Iniko was not seen today. From VWS with one sentence update on Junipero at end:
Ventana Wildlife Soc Mod • 4 hours ago • edited Post-release Update 12/6/2021
Dian Fossey (1011), Iniko (1031), and Rachel Carson (1042) were successfully released on December 4th (in that order). We thought Iniko would be the first to go, but Dian made the first leap toward freedom followed quickly by Iniko. Rachel took her time and came out about an hour later. They join Jane Goodall, Jan Hamber and Rosalie Barrrow Edge, who were eager to reconnect with their old flight pen pals. More good news, all three of the newbies roosted together off the ground their first night.
For Iniko, this marked the start of a new chapter in her life. Iniko's long road back to the wild almost ended before it started when 729 "Ninja" attacked her back in October 2020, injuring her leg. After a successful rescue, she fully recovered thanks to the care of the LA Zoo condor crew. She was transferred to San Simeon mid-October to join 5 other amazing female pre-release condors.
After the Dolan Fire of 2020 and other setbacks from lead poisoning deaths, the flock dropped to 79 in early 2021. However, the condors, with their trademark resiliency, never gave up and kept pushing forward. They fledged 6 condors in the wild in 2021, increasing the flock to 85. The release of Iniko, Jane, Jan, Rachel, Dian, and Rosalie boosted the central California flock even further to 91 condors!
Thank you Explore viewers for being part of Iniko's journey and for your unwavering support of California condors.
If you missed the release, you can watch it here- https://youtu.be/a1Wc1r-hu_I
Join us at our next zoom chat on December 16, 2021 @ 4pm PST for updates on Iniko and the rest of the flock! sign up at http://www.ventanaws.org
Thank you Everyone!
PS- This is the time of year when untagged wild chicks start showing up with mom and dad on the Big Sur cam. The pairs with untagged chicks are Nomad/574 & Miracle/538 (Chick 1104), Ferdinand/652 7 550 (Chick 1095), and Amigo/204 & Kodama/646 (Chick 1089). We believe Junipero/663, who is solo parenting with a leg injury, is still tending to his chick 1077.
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