California condors released into north coast redwoods

REDWOOD NATIONAL PARK, Calif. (AP) — The endangered California condor returned to the skies over the state’s far north coast redwood forests on Tuesday for the first time in more than a century.

Two captive-bred birds were released from a pen in Redwood National Park, located about an hour’s drive south of the Oregon border, under a project aimed at restoring the giant vultures to their historic habitat in the Pacific Northwest.

The two males moved into staging area at late morning and a remotely controlled gate opened. After a few minutes of warily eyeing the opening, the birds one by one stepped through the opening, spread their giant wings and launched.

“They just jumped up and took flight off into the distance,” Tiana Williams-Claussen, wildlife director for the region’s Yurok tribe, said in a webcast.

Condors were last spotted in the park area around 1892, authorities said.

Condors can live for 60 years and fly vast distances, so their range could extend into several states.

Federal and local fish and wildlife agencies are involved in the restoration project headed by the Yurok tribe, which traditionally has considered the California condor a sacred animal and has been working for years to return the species to the tribe’s ancestral territory.