Mobile game players can now experience what it’s like to encounter the real-life conservation efforts behind saving the California condor from extinction.
U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and Santa Barbara Zoo announced the release of a free mobile app called Condor Country Tuesday.
The California condor—with red eyes, a bare head, a razor-sharp beak and enormous black wings with a plumage of white patches on the underside—is a federally endangered species.
Paul Souza, regional director of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service Pacific Southwest Region, said this is the first mobile game that educates on the realistic conservation practices of an endangered bird.
“We’ve never seen an app that focuses on endangered species conservation,” Souza said. “I’m glad we picked the condor because this is truly an amazing conservation success story. This species is charismatic, iconic and people want to see a recovery success like this.”
Available on iOS and Android devices, the game simulates the activities of field biologists and zoo keepers who are helping save North America’s largest bird.
Gamers will hatch eggs, release chicks into the wild, and watch over a flock of condors to monitor for health threats.
“In the game, users are managing the population,” said Estelle Sandhaus, director of conservation and research at the Santa Barbara Zoo. “They learn what it takes to manage a flock of condors, and gamers are even tasked with fundraising. That’s a reality we face every day.”
Players will work to reintroduce the birds at locations where rehabilitation efforts have been organized, such as the Sespe Condor Sanctuary in Ventura County’s Los Padres National Forest, Big Sur on the Central California Coast and the Grand Canyon in Arizona.
The game was developed by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, the Santa Barbara Zoo and Cerberus Interactive.
Proceeds from optional in-app purchases help the zoo’s education programs and conservation programs, Souza said.
The birds with the 10-foot wingspan almost went extinct.
The number of California condors dropped to just 22 birds in the wild by 1987.
In an effort to save them, the remaining members of the species were trapped and placed in zoos for breeding programs.
It took decades to restore the population and the numbers rose through captive breeding, Sandhaus said.
As a result, more than 400 birds are flying above Arizona, Utah, California and Mexico’s Baja California.
Nearly half of that number of condors survive in the wild, wearing numbered identification tags so researchers can track their development.
Thousands of years ago, the birds dominated the coasts of North America, from British Columbia to Baja California.
By the 20th century, the bird was found only in Southern California, its numbers depleted by habitat destruction, poaching and lead poisoning.
Lead poisoning has been the main cause of death for condors, Sandhaus said.
The ingestion of shotgun bullets while feeding on dead animals killed by game hunters resulted in a massive population decline.
“Lead poisoning still is the biggest mortality factor today in the flocks,” Sandhaus said. “It’s something we can change. It’s human caused and there are human solutions.”
Condor conservationists also pushed for a statewide ban on lead ammunition in California.
Gov. Jerry Brown signed legislation in 2013, prohibiting the use of lead ammunition in hunting.
Assembly Bill 711 was signed into law requiring the use of lead-free ammunition when hunting wildlife anywhere in California.
This law was effective July 2015, and regulations phase-in the statute’s requirements, but it must be completely implemented by July 2019, according to the California Department of Fish and Wildlife.
Sandhaus said partnering with the hunting community is important for success.
“We are seeing a movement,” Sandhaus said. “Hunters are the original wildlife conservationist, and they also fund what conservationists stand for.”
— Noozhawk staff writer Brooke Holland can be reached at bholland@noozhawk.com. Follow Noozhawk on Twitter: @noozhawk, @NoozhawkNews and @NoozhawkBiz. Connect with Noozhawk on Facebook.
