Update: 2:50 p.m. (AP) The California condor released back into the wild today was greeted by other members of the flock following its release into the Big Sur wilderness around 10 a.m., Ventana Wildlife Society Senior Biologist Joe Burnett. The release was broadcast live.
"She did great,'' he said. "She did about as perfect as you can ask for.'' Burnett said the bird had been treated at the Los Angeles Zoo for a wing injury and was testing it in the wild for the first time. She was released less than a mile from her parents and the nest where she was born. Ventana was planning to release three additional condors, but decided against it because of inclement weather, Burnett said. Those birds will be released over the coming weeks.
Update: 10:10 a.m. Condor 646 was released and met at the door by a previously released condor -- condor 550. The newly-released condor made a short flight before walking up the hill with condor 550 to explore the feeding area and meet other condors. A concern of the biologist is that the released condors are excepted into the group, but it appeared that condor 646 was brought into the fold. Another feeding cam shows live video of the many wild and rehabilitated condors that gather in the feeding area regularly.
Warning: Some of the feeding videos can be fairly graphic.
Update: 9:57 a.m. The Ventana Wildlife Society has said that only one condor -- condor 646 -- will be released into the wild today because of changes in the weather forecast. Rain in the Big Sur area on Wednesday and Thursday is delaying the release of the other condors previously scheduled to be released today.
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