The unsteady comeback of the California condor
The bird’s plight is a study in unintended consequences
IT MAY HAVE been the smelliest job in conservation. Whoever drew the short straw sat in a hole in the dirt underneath a carcass. Then they waited for a California condor to come and have a snack. “That’s not a pretty job at all,” says Chandra David, an animal keeper for the Los Angeles Zoo. “When a bird would land somebody would radio in saying ‘Now!’ and they would reach up and grab the bird’s legs.” This, and other less nauseating methods, is how the last remaining condors were brought in from the wild in the 1980s.
Explore more
This article appeared in the United States section of the print edition under the headline “Vulture capital”
From the July 6th 2024 edition
Discover stories from this section and more in the list of contents
Explore the editionMore from United States
A protest against America’s TikTok ban is mired in contradiction
Another Chinese app is not the alternative some young Americans think it is
How Joe Biden wound up serving Donald Trump
In some ways, his administration will look less like an interregnum than like MAGA-lite
How bad will the smoke be for Angelenos’ health?
Expect more sickness and disrupted schooling
Should you have to prove your age before watching porn?
America’s Supreme Court weighs a Texan law aimed at protecting kids
Tulsi Gabbard, Sean Penn and the hunt for an American hostage
A controversial trip to Syria in 2017 produced a possible sighting of Austin Tice, an imprisoned journalist
How flush Americans feel depends on their views of Donald Trump
Republicans expect a Trumponomics boom, Democrats dread a bust