The Ventana Wildlife Society’s livestreams are usually trained on condors — birds with 9-foot wingspans, decades-long lifespans and critically endangered populations.
But when the Dolan Fire blazed through the Big Sur Condor Sanctuary in August 2020, flames and fumes filled the feeds. Helpless watchers viewed in horror as the wildfire barrelled through one of the few condor havens left in California.
“Our worst nightmare was kind of being realized: This thing’s gonna burn right to the heart of our sanctuary in the middle of the night,” said Joe Burnett, manager of the society’s condor recovery program.
That night left nine condors and two fledglings dead; another adult died later due to extensive burns. The fire also destroyed the society’s bunkhouse and release pen in the sanctuary. Upon returning to the campus, society Executive Director Kelly Sorenson said it was hard to look at.
“There was just ash everywhere. Big, giant, mature trees were dead and hanging over the roads, which were in terrible condition,” he said. “It was a mess.”
But more than a year after the Dolan Fire decimated its facilities, the Ventana Wildlife Society is finally picking up the burned pieces and rebuilding on the ashen ground. Crews just completed the last of the clean-up last week, Sorenson said. And after raising $640,000 from more than 1,500 donors in just 100 days, the society is prepared to build a bigger and better bunkhouse and release pen by next summer.
“It was very emotional and uplifting every time we received gifts, large or small,” Sorenson said. “Now, we’re looking at this little pot of money and realizing we have enough to work with toward that rebuild.”
Officials believe an arsonist ignited the Dolan Fire on Aug. 18, 2020. By nightfall on Aug. 20, it reached the Big Sur Condor Sanctuary, where it scorched most of the 80 acres overnight.
Although the area’s condors were free-flying — meaning none were confined to pens — the flames caught them when they’re usually sleeping, Burnett said. Their instinct was to wait out the fire instead of attempting a night flight. But Burnett is grateful not all of the recorded 28 birds hunkering down in the sanctuary perished that night.
“I think we dodged a bullet. We could have lost a lot more birds,” he said. “And with this unnatural fire caused by arson, it was just a different beast in general.”
Once the smoke cleared, the area required extensive clean-up. Crews removed dangerous trees, fixed the water systems, transferred warped and melted metal. The society’s campus also endured county-mandated tests to make sure it was expunged of any toxic or hazardous materials. Last week, the site cleared one of its final tests, Sorenson said, permitting the transition to the next phase of rebuilding: planning the new facilities.
A new 40-by-40-foot release pen will fit more condors than the previous pen, allowing the society to accept more birds from zoos for release. Also, a 1,200-square-foot bunkhouse with three separate rooms will replace its predecessor that was only a fourth of its size. Here, biologists can stay the night to complete research on the critically endangered species.
These plans are 80% done, Sorenson said, and the structures are expected to be finished by the summer. Building should start this spring after the rainy season, according to Burnett.
The Big Sur Condor Sanctuary and its facilities are critical to Central California condors. Before it burned down, the old pen doubled as both a site for releasing condors and a site for recapturing sick birds or those with malfunctioning transmitters. On the campus itself, the Ventana Wildlife Society provided clean food sources for the flocks, creating a haven free of lead contamination.
Lead poisoning is by far the leading cause of death for condors, Burnett said and occurs when the creatures consume carcasses tainted with lead ammunition. Although the Dolan Fire killed 10% of the local condor populations, 12 birds died that same year from lead poisoning. This year, nine condors have succumbed to the same fate. The wildfire only exacerbated the losses from this ongoing crisis, Burnett said.
“The fire conjured up dramatic images. But what I remind people is that it pales in comparison to the birds we’ve lost to lead poisoning over the last 15 years,” he said. “You can’t even compare the two.”
The Big Sur sanctuary is part of the trio of locations in Central California that work together to reestablish condor populations. The others are the Ventana Wildlife Society’s sanctuary in San Simeon and Pinnacles National Park. After Big Sur went up in flames, the two other condor havens have stepped up in its absence: The Pinnacles staff is re-capturing condors that are sick or hurt, and the San Simeon staff is continuing to conduct releases.
Since 2015, the Ventana Wildlife Society’s San Simeon Condor Sanctuary has been the primary place for condor releases in an effort to expand natural condor populations, Burnett said.
“We had released so many (condors) in Big Sur over the years. We’re like, ‘Man, it’s getting crowded here — let’s move down the range a little bit,’” he said. “And it really worked.”
The Central California flock had amassed 102 birds before the Dolan Fire. But by this August, the post-wildfire numbers dropped to 79. Now, due to a combination of releases and wild fledglings, these numbers will jump to 91 by the year’s end, Burnett said. While the population will always fluctuate with deaths and new fledglings, Sorenson said advocating for copper ammunition in place of lead bullets will help keep the flocks on an upward trajectory.
With another release scheduled for Dec. 4 at its San Simeon location, the Ventana Wildlife Society is leading the efforts toward reestablishing natural condor populations. The society goes beyond educating the public, said Amanda Preece, an environmental advocate at the Monterey Audubon Society. The staff embarks on extensive hikes into the backcountry, spends hours shimmying up trees and has the expertise to handle these massive birds.
“This is such a specialized skill set, and we are lucky to have the Ventana Wildlife Society watching over these captivating Cathartidaes and working to address issues like lead poisoning that still hold the condors back from being 100% self-sustaining,” she said in an email.
By rebuilding the Big Sur Condor Sanctuary, the society is giving this historically mistreated species a fighting chance. Condors are unsung heroes in California, Burnett said: They handle the unattractive task of cleaning up messes no one else wants to. Regardless of their important ecological niche, these birds should be protected for generations to come, he insists.“I think (condors) are a great symbol of not only the wilderness but also of why we need to protect all animals on the planet with whatever it takes,” he said.
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