California condors could find new home

摘要

The majestically soaring, entrails-eating California condor will bring its expansive wingspan and its gross appetite back to parts of the Pacific Northwest, under a long-awaited Fish and Wildlife Service proposal made public today. The transplanted birds would be deemed a "nonessential experimental population" within their new home in Redwood National Park, according to the plan. "The best available data indicate that reintroduction of the California condor into the Pacific Northwest is biologically feasible and will promote the conservation of the species," FWS stated. The "nonessential experimental population" designation means no critical habitat will be established. The proposal will be formally published tomorrow in the Federal Register, kicking off a 60-day public comment period. Protected under the Endangered Species Act since the law was passed in 1973, the California condor is North America's largest vulture and boasts a wingspan of about 9.5 feet. It is a scavenger, well-suited to carving its diet entirely from dead animals, with FWS noting the "hooked bills, long necks and largely naked heads, which allow condors to access muscle tissue deep within a carcass and to rip pieces of meat ... while minimizing the potential for feather fouling."