Wildlife
Prairie Falcons breed in this area in some of the highest densities of anywhere in North America. Peregrine falcons have recently returned to the Monument to breed also, but in far fewer numbers. A California Condor re-establishment program has been in place since 2003. Bobcats, cougars, coyotes, California Quail, Wild Turkey, and many other birds and mammals live in the area.
Like many parks in central California, Pinnacles has had a small problem with wild pigs (a mix of feral domestic pigs and imported wild boars) disturbing the landscape on a regular basis. As of Spring 2006, the core of the park was pig free. The culmination of a twenty-year, 1.6 million dollar effort had succeeded in eradicating pigs from the main area of the park. National Park Service personnel along with IWS worked to remove pigs from inside the park, and establish and monitor an exclusionary pig fence that runs for approximately 26 miles (42 km) around the center core of the park. Outside this fence, however, wild pigs still roam in regular abundance. Such is the pervasiveness of the problem. Current monitoring for potential breaks and breaches in the fence is needed to ensure that the pigs do not return to devastate the park.
Read more about this topic: Pinnacles National Monument
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