Carl B. Koford

Carl B. Koford

Carl Buckingham Koford (September 3, 1915 in Oakland, California – December 3, 1979 in Berkeley, California) was an American biologist who is known for his research work on the behavior of the California Condor. He attended the Piedmont High School and studied at the University of Washington. Koford began his field work about the California Condor in March 1939. More than 400 days until June 1941 he spend with the condors. During World War II he interrupted his studies to serve in the U.S. Navy. In 1946 his observations on the condors continued. In 1953 he published the report "The California Condor" where he gave a first estimation of the world population of about 60 individuals. In the 1950s and again in the 1970s he went to South America where he made studies on species like the Vicuña, the Jaguar, the Ocelot or the Jaguarundi. After rumours about the survival of some individuals of the thought to be extinct Mexican grizzly bear Koford went to Mexico in 1969 but he failed to rediscover this bear.

After Koford's death in 1979 the Museum of Vertebrate Zoology at Berkeley established the Carl B. Koford Memorial Fund in 1980 to support field research on vertebrates. Koford's Grass Mouse (Akodon kofordi), a rodent from Peru, was discovered in the 1980s and named in his honour. Also the Eastern puna mouse (Punomys kofordi) and the Coastal Leaf-toad Gecko Phyllodactylus kofordi were named after him.