Back in the wild: where reintroduced California Condors spend their time
Year: 2026
Type: article
Abstract: Captive breeding and reintroduction programmes have been instrumental in preventing the extinction of critically endangered species. As these efforts advance towards recovering self‐sustaining wild populations, understanding how reintroduced animals use space is essential for long‐term success. Home‐range analyses provide insight into habitat use, behavioural flexibility and exposure to human‐related threats, which are key for adaptive management. We compared annual home‐ranges of 12 California Condors Gymnogyps californianus tracked from 2016 to 2020 at two ecologically distinct release sites: the fragmented, urban‐influenced landscapes of southern California and the more heterogeneous coastal habitats of central California. Annual autocorrelated kernel density estimation (AKDE) home‐range estimates were approximately 3.44 times as large in southern California Condors (c. 8444.93 km 2 ) as in central California Condors (c. 2246 km 2 ), suggesting regional differences in habitat fragmentation, resource distribution and topography. Although absolute variability was greater in southern California, central California Condors showed greater relative variability in space use, consistent with diverse foraging opportunities across inland and coastal environments. These findings demonstrate how regional landscape characteristics influence condor movement patterns and emphasize the importance of site‐specific management, including maintaining connectivity in southern California and monitoring inland and coastal resources in the central population.
Source: Ibis
DOI: 10.1111/ibi.70141
Language: English
Subfield: Ecology
Field: Environmental Science
Domain: Physical Sciences
Open Access status: hybrid
Estimated APC paid: $4,480
OpenAlex ID: W7222873405