California condors released in the wild.

Two captive-bred California condors and their two Andean-condor companions took their initial steps onto a mountain ledge last week in the first attempt to reintroduce this nearly extinct species into its former habitat.

The young California condors were hatched as part of a zoo breeding program designed to prevent the species from dying out. Conservationists captured the last wild California condor in 1987 near Bakersfield (SN: 4/25/87, p.263). Since then, 52 have been bred in captivity as part of a cooperative effort between the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and the National Audubon Society.

Xewe, the female of the California condor pair, hatched nine months ago at the Los Angeles Zoo. Her name means "to cast a shadow" in the language of the Chumash Indians, who believe California condors carry the spirits of the dead to heaven. the male, named Chocuyens, or "valley of the moon" in Chumash, hatched eight months ago at the San Diego Zoo.

Last October, researchers placed a minivan-sized box containing Xewe, Chocuyens and two Andean condors on a rocky ledge in the Los Padres National Forest, north of Los Angeles. The researchers included the Andean pair to keep the California condors company. They connected the box to a netted enclosure so that the birds could become acclimated prior to release.

When the netting was removed to free the giant vultures last week, all four "were obviously very nervous about the whole thing," says Michael P. Wallace, curator of birds at the Los Angeles Zoo. But by last Friday, he says, Xewe, Chocuyens and one of the Andean birds were taking short, 100-yard flights.