The Peregrine Fund - U.S. Programs

U.S. Programs

The Peregrine Fund currently has two recovery projects in the United States: The Aplomado Falcon in Texas and New Mexico and the California Condor in northern Arizona. Aplomado Falcons once were widespread in the American Southwest but habitat changes, pesticides and human persecution restricted their range to a few areas in Mexico by the 1950s. The Peregrine Fund began breeding the falcons and releasing them in Texas in 1993. With a substantial population of falcons established in South Texas, the focus then shifted to West Texas. In 2002 Aplomado Falcons were released on several private ranches and in 2007, biologists observed the fledging of wild falcons in West Texas for the first time in more than 70 years. In 2006 the organization began releasing captive-bred Aplomado Falcons in New Mexico and the first nesting pair was observed there in 2007.

The program was not without controversy. As pointed out by activists with National Audubon Society and others, Aplomado Falcons had already begun to return to New Mexico on their own. One nest had even been discovered in southern New Mexico. The Peregrine Fund argued that this progress was negligible, and could be ignored. The Fund also was a vociferous proponent of granting "10j" status (experimental but non-essential) to the Aplomado, which had the unfortunate drawback of removing protection for the birds attempting to re-colonize on their own.

California Condors were close to extinction in the 1980s when an effort began to capture the last birds in existence, numbering 22 in 1981. Condor pairs have produced more than 100 offspring at the Boise breeding facility. By 1996 there were enough young condors to begin establishing a recovery effort in Arizona (one was already under way in California). The goal of the recovery plan is to establish two geographically separate populations, each with at least 150 condors and 15 breeding pairs. When chicks are ready to fledge, they are transported from the breeding facility in Idaho to the release site in Arizona. These condors produced their first wild offspring by 2003. Future success of the program is jeopardized by lead poisoning from carcasses and gut piles left in the field by shooters using lead ammunition, which fragment into hundreds of tiny pieces upon impact. The Peregrine Fund currently is researching the amount of lead contained in hunter-killed game animals.