First wild condor in Zion National Park dies of lead poisoning

The first wild California condor in Zion National Park was not only a major tourist attraction, but was also celebrated as a symbol of success in the fight to save the species, which was listed as endangered by the federal government.

Sadly, he didn't last.

The nearly five-year-old male condor – dubbed “1K” because he was the 1,000th bird hatched since the California Condor Recovery Program was established in 1982 – was recently found dead in a juniper tree near Pipe Spring National Monument in northern Arizona.

“1K's death is a tragedy because it was premature and preventable,” Shawn Farry, program manager of the Peregrine Fund's California Condor Program, said in a press release announcing the death. “He was still in his difficult teen years, and his head color was beginning to change from black to orange. He was only a year or two away from finding a lifelong mate and becoming a breeding stock.”

The majestic bird hatched in May 2019, becoming the first California condor to be born in the wild in Zion National Park. It grew up in the park, learned to fly and gained a large following along the way. When 1K's radio transmitter revealed it had stopped moving in March, biologists hiked several miles through a rugged and remote canyon and found the bird. Results of an autopsy – an examination of the dead animal – showed that the bird had died of lead poisoning.

A long and painful death

Janice Stroud-Settles, wildlife program manager at Zion, said 1K likely suffered a long and painful death. He may have fallen from a cliff observation deck into a tree and eventually succumbed to lead poisoning, which can paralyze the digestive tract and leave the condor unable to process food and water.

“It's a horrible death,” she said in an interview. “You basically die of starvation or dehydration, and he probably got very weak and couldn't fly and fell from above into the tree.”

As unpleasant as it is, 1K's death is typical of the fate of many condors throughout their range in the American Southwest.

Nearly half of the condor deaths in California since the reintroduction program began have been due to lead poisoning, the release said. In Utah and Arizona, 53 condors have died from lead poisoning, and 90 percent of captured birds have been found to have lead in their blood since the birds were reintroduced to the region in 1996.

Because California condors are scavengers that feed on the remains of dead deer, moose and other wildlife, they are particularly vulnerable.

“When condors eat an animal killed with lead ammunition,” Stroud-Settles explained, “they are likely ingesting lead from the carcass, and it doesn't take much to suffer from lead poisoning. Bald eagles and golden eagles are also commonly affected by lead poisoning. However, they give birth to several chicks in a year and can better offset this mortality than condors, which give birth to one chick every two years.”

As grim as these numbers are, progress is being made to protect the Utah-Arizona condor population, which currently numbers 83 individuals, with about 79 of them roaming freely in captivity. In partnership with the Peregrine Fund, the Utah Division of Wildlife Resources runs a program that incentivizes hunters to use copper ammunition.

The Hunters Helping Condors program offers hunters who obtain a hunting permit for the areas surrounding Zion National Park a $50 voucher that can be redeemed for a free box of lead-free bullets at select retailers.

Danielle Finlayson, a conservation biologist in DWR's southern region, said 79% of the 2,400 hunters who secured hunting licenses last fall for the Zion area, the area most frequently visited by the birds, participated in the program.

“This is huge and definitely helps the condors,” said Finlayson, while regretting that 21% do not redeem the vouchers. “We are trying to increase this number, but we are very grateful to the hunters who participate.”

In addition to receiving coupons, hunters who use non-lead ammunition can also be entered into a drawing for $800 worth of outdoor gear. Their counterparts who use lead can enter by removing the viscera pile of the animal they kill and bringing it to one of the DWR's inspection stations, Finlayson said.

Survival of siblings

But that does not ease the grief felt by many at the loss of 1,000, including those who regularly came to Zion each year to catch a glimpse of the majestic bird with its 9-foot wingspan, which was celebrated on merchandise and signs and became an iconic symbol of hope for the species.

Stroud-Settles said visitors often gathered at Zion's Big Bend trailhead sign to view the nesting site and watch 1K learn to fly.

“He wasn't a good lander,” she recalled. “Whenever he tried to land in a tree, he would crash and it would look terrible. But eventually he figured it out and became a really good flyer.”

For those who work with the birds, the death of the popular condor is cause for reflection.

“The death of 1K is a reminder that there is still a lot of work to be done before we can step back and call this a conservation success story,” Tim Hauck, director of the Peregrine Fund's condor program, said in a statement.

Fortunately, 1K has a younger sister to carry on his legacy. In 2021, two years after 1K's historic appearance, California Condor 1111 became the second condor to fledge in the wild in Zion. She too had suffered lead poisoning.

Last January, a team that captured and tested her found that she had the highest lead levels ever measured in a living bird in the rescue program's history. She was immediately transported to Liberty Wildlife, a wildlife rehabilitation center in Arizona, where she was nursed back to health and released back into the wild on May 17.

The California condor, the largest wild bird in North America, has been listed as an endangered species since 1967 and is under federal protection.