Vaccinated California Condors Being Released From Captivity

In response to the ongoing Highly Pathogenic Avian Influenza (HPAI) outbreak in the western United States, ten vaccinated juvenile California condors will be released in the San Simeon mountains from November 28 to December 12, 2023.

The Condors were vaccinated with a killed, inactivated product conditionally licensed by the Center for Veterinary Biologics in 2016. The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service has tested HAPI vaccine candidates on vultures in North Carolina for months.

This 'bird-flu' vaccine is designed to protect birds, not humans.

The U.S. government has already approved a bird flu vaccine for people and continues to invest in newer avian influenza vaccine candidates. 

On November 23, 2023, John Fitzrandolph reported for The San Luis Obispo Tribune that 21 condors died from HAPI infections in Arizona earlier in 2023. Currently, the total population of condors is estimated at 347 birds in the wild spread across California, Arizona, and Baja, Mexico.

The California Condor Recovery Program is an international multi-entity effort to recover the endangered California condor.was last updated in November 2023.

The program aims to take steps toward recovery by establishing two geographically distinct, self-sustaining populations, each with 150 birds in the wild and at least 15 breeding pairs, with a third population of condors retained in captivity.

California condors, members of the vulture family Cathartidae, are one of the largest flying birds in North America, with a wingspan of nearly 10 feet. 

In the wild, California condors may live up to 60 years. They mate for life and are attentive parents.

Avian influenza (Bird Flu) is a disease caused by influenza type A viruses that occur naturally among birds. The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reported in June 2023, confirming the overall risk to human health associated with the ongoing HAPI outbreak in wild birds and poultry remains low.