Calif. park: 1st condor egg in 100 years

PAICINES, Calif., March 10 (UPI) -- A pair of California condors have nested in a California national park for the first time in more than 100 years, park officials said Wednesday.

Pinnacles National Park Superintendent Eric Brunneman said the Ventana Wildlife Society released the female condor at Pinnacles, in Paicines, approximately 18 months ago, and the male was set free in nearby Big Sur, along the state's central coast, KTVU-TV, Oakland, reported.

The condors were tracked with visible numbers, radio telemetry, and global positioning technology.

An egg was confirmed in the nest last week, park officials said.

Although the park was quickly closed near the nest for the remainder of the nesting period, people may still see the site by hiking about two miles from parking areas.

A condor egg requires an average of 57 days to hatch, and the nestling would be flightless for approximately half a year after that.

California condors have been re-established at Pinnacles through a cooperative effort between community volunteers, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, the National Park Service, Ventana Wildlife Society and the Institute for Wildlife Studies.