Every year thousands of people gather at Vermilion Cliffs National Monument to watch one of conservation’s biggest spectacles – the release of captive-bred California Condors to the wild. This day is a celebration of the dedication and tenacity that hundreds of people have put into bringing the iconic California Condor back from the brink of extinction. In the 1980’s, there were only 22 individual birds left on the planet, yet today they stand at nearly 500. This year, with Covid-19 affecting our ability to gather in large groups, we will not be able to hold an in-person public release at the Vermilion Cliffs, but the celebration will go on!

The Peregrine Fund will release up to four California Condors atop the spectacular ledges of Vermilion Cliffs National Monument in northern Arizona at 11am MST (12pm MDT) Saturday, Sept. 26. Since the public is unable to watch from the annual viewing site, we are excited to offer the opportunity to observe the release virtually on The Peregrine Fund’s YouTube Channel.

Watch as young condors unfold their wings and take to the skies of northern Arizona for the first time in their lives. Because the biologists are unable to schedule exactly when the birds will choose to leave their release pen, the event will have a picture-in-picture set up with a camera trained on the release pen, and will include videos and interviews with the condor biologists and conservationists who work with these massive birds! Viewers will also be able to chat with and ask questions to the condor biologists who are on the cliff, behind a blind, waiting for the birds to take off.

For further information visit:

https://peregrinefund.org/event/public-california-condor-virtual-release-sep26