Endangered California Condors Threatened by Soberanes Fire

America's largest land bird has been moving back from the edge of extinction. rr A fire that began on August 31 with an illegal campfire is within eight miles of 3 nests with young California condor hatchlings. The months-old young are not yet able to fly and could not escape the flames on their own. The Soberanes fire has roared through nearly 70,000 acres of wildland, destroying 57 residences and 11 outbuildings. Biologists report that none of the condors living in the area has yet been killed by the fire, but one of the feeding stations where they leave dead animals for the birds has been destroyed. The fire is moving south across coastal Monterey County toward the remote sections of the Los Padres National Forest where the condors nest. This is also the location of a "condor sanctuary" site with pens, trailers and a cabin that scientists use when they release condors that have been hatched in zoos. a..morereb9j..more