This story was published Wednesday April 30, 2025.
For centuries, the California condor was a prevalent species across North America.
The large scavengers, which feature a nearly 10-foot wingspan, could be found from Florida and New York to the redwood forests of Northern California, breaking down the remains of elk, deer, bears and other large animals.
However, the condor was driven to near-extinction as the continent was settled, disappearing from most of the country. By 1982, the total population stood at just 22 birds.
In recent years, significant efforts have been made to bring the species back from the brink. Breeding programs were established and the few remaining wild condors were taken into captivity in the 1980s. Birds bred in captivity were then released back into the wild across the American Southwest.
Three years ago, California condors returned to the skies above Humboldt County, more than a century after disappearing from this ancestral habitat.
The reintroduction was made possible by the work of the Yurok Tribe, for whom the condor, or “Prey-go-neesh” in the Yurok language, is a sacred cultural and spiritual symbol.
Tiana Williams-Claussen is the director of the Yurok Tribe Wildlife Department. She recently spoke with Insight Host Vicki Gonzalez about the bird’s reintroduction as part of the Northern California Condor Restoration Program.
The condor’s long-awaited return
Williams-Claussen said the Yurok Tribe had established a panel of elders - many of whom had never seen a condor due to their extirpation - to prioritize natural and cultural restoration needs. The panel chose the condor for reintroduction in 2003, and in 2008 the Tribe received funding from the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service to conduct feasibility studies.
“[We] did a lot of assessments for potential contaminants, for how they might fit into the human world as it exists today,” she explained.
Fourteen years later, after working with partners from the Northern California Condor Restoration Program, the big day came on May 3, 2022.
“It was very exciting,” Williams-Claussen said. “We had hundreds of people watching at the same time, so that was really fun.”
She said the Tribe received four birds from partnered breeding and rearing facilities, and spent months acclimating them to the area. Officials planned to release the condors in pairs or individually, but the exact timing depended on each bird’s personality.
“We tend to work on what we call ‘condor time,’” she said. “We’ve got plans for the condors, but it’s not going to work unless the condors agree to it.”
She said the first two condors, carrying alphanumeric tags A3 and A2, were initially very cautious. “It was kind of funny watching them rock toward the gate and rock back, kind of questioning ‘was this really happening, what’s going on here?’” she said.
But eventually, the birds took flight. “They just took off into the wild blue yonder,” Williams-Claussen said. “It was the most incredible feeling.”
The new releases also came with new names for the big scavengers.
“We did determine that as birds are released, we would be providing them with Yurok nicknames because it’s traditional that as something big happens in Yurok life, you get a new name,” Williams-Claussen said.
As the first bird to leave, A3 was named Poy’-we-son, a traditional name for village or ceremonial leaders meaning “The one who goes ahead.” The second condor, A2 (Nes-kwe-chokw’, “He returns”) represented the bird’s return to Northern California skies.
The first two California condors released by the Yurok Tribe in 2022, A3 (Poy’-we-son, “The one who goes ahead") and A2 (Nes-kwe-chokw’, “He returns.”)Courtesy of the Yurok Tribe
The threat of lead
As of early 2025 the Yurok Tribe has released 18 condors, and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service says the wild, free-flying population has surpassed 300 birds. But the reintroductions have come with setbacks.
Williams-Claussen said some condors have been shot while others have been affected by residual traces of the insecticide DDT, which was banned by the EPA in 1972 due to its significant environmental and health risks.
There is also the threat of avian influenza, which Williams-Claussen said killed over 20 birds in the Southwest California Condor Flock and can spread quickly among the social scavengers. She said no cases have been reported so far in the state of California itself, and every condor released is now vaccinated against the disease.
But the biggest cause of condor mortality, she said, has been lead poisoning, largely stemming from the consumption of animal remains containing ammunition fragments. The use of lead ammunition for hunting wildlife has been banned in California since 2019.
Williams-Claussen said unlike humans, birds have slow digestive systems which can make ingesting even small amounts of the heavy metal dangerous. “That little bit of lead will just be ground into dust and get into their system,” she explained.
“It can result in a freezing of the digestive system, they can lose their motor control. They can get really weak, they can get predated on, or they can just die outright.”
Williams-Claussen estimated that around 50% of condor deaths where a cause was determined are caused by lead poisoning, and the toxin has already affected some birds flying over Humboldt County.
Nate Krickhahn and Dr. Jennifer Tavares from Sequoia Park Zoo work on California condor A6, named Me-new-kwek' in 2023.Courtesy of the Yurok Tribe
In October 2023, Yurok officials said a group of condors including A6 (Me-new-kwek’, “I am bashful or shy”) fed on an elk that was killed by a poacher in Redwood National Park. A later health check determined that five out of eight birds had elevated levels of lead in their blood with A6’s case warranting immediate medical treatment.
In October 2024 condor A9 began exhibiting signs of lead poisoning just two weeks after being released, and had to undergo 22 days of treatment at the Sequoia Park Zoo’s Condor Care Facility. Wildlife officials say the bird likely ingested lead-tainted carrion that was illegally shot.
More recently, lead poisoning caused the first condor death in Northern California. In January the youngest released bird, 18-month-old B7 (Pey-noh-pey-o-wok’, “I am friend or kind or good natured”) was found dead in Redwood National Park after just three months in the wild. Yurok officials confirmed the cause of death in March.
“This particular piece was actually just an air gun pellet that he had picked up somewhere, probably from some small game that had been targeted with it, though we can't be 100% sure,” Williams-Claussen said. “It's just this tiny little thing and it ended up in a mortality event.”
Williams-Claussen said the state’s ban on lead ammunition has had mixed results, as alternatives like copper ammunition can be rarer and more expensive. However, she noted that the transition to non-lead ammunition has gained significant support from the hunting community.
“That’s not surprising to me both as a hunter and a tribal member,” Williams-Claussen said. “The hunting community has been huge in pushing a lot of the conservation that we have done in the 20th and 21st centuries.”
Williams-Claussen said while the transition away from lead might be long, she thinks it will ultimately be successful. “I do think that we'll get there eventually as the information about its impacts on the environment become more widely distributed.”
Hopes for future growth
Despite the threats of disease and lead, Yurok researchers continue to monitor the 17 remaining condors in Northern California. “We’re out there seven days a week,” Williams-Claussen said.
The birds are monitored with satellite and radio transmitters to track their movements, and crews regularly go into the field to check the condors’ health. Williams-Claussen said as time passes the condors have expanded their range beyond the initial release site, from around 30 miles in the first year up to almost 100 miles by the end of 2024.
She also said the small flock has continued to integrate, socialize and form a hierarchy, with younger condors learning from older ones. “It’s nothing that usually ends up being too serious, but the young birds are definitely taught who’s boss as they start coming out,” she explained.
Williams-Claussen also said a condor chick may be a future possibility as a pair of birds - A1 (Hlow Hoo-let, “At last we fly”) and A0 (Ney-gem' ‘Ne-chweenkah', “She carries our prayers”) - have begun spending more time together.
“He started giving displays earlier this year,” she said. “They’re breaking off from the flock and just kind of going around the landscape together, which indicates to us they may be looking for a nest.”
“It's very unlikely we'll see a chick this year but they may make their first attempt next year, which would be incredible.”
The Northern California Condor Restoration Program plans to release its next cohort of condors later this year.
