Sorted by date Results 1 - 17 of 17
Watch California Condors Take Their First Flights In The Wild This will happen during the 27th annual public condor release - in-person and live-streamed! VERMILION CLIFFS, Ariz. - The Peregrine Fund and Bureau of Land Management at Vermilion Cliffs National Monument are hosting a celebration on National Public Lands Day, Saturday, September 24 by releasing captive-bred California Condors at 1 p.m. MDT (noon MST, northern-Arizona Condor Time) to take their first flights in the wild. The event... Full story
The Arizona Game and Fish Department (AZGFD) is getting ready to roll out a new and exciting way to keep people connected with the state's diverse wildlife. In addition to partnering with the Southwest Wildlife Conservation Center and Boyce Thompson Arboretum on a virtual speaker wildlife series during the pandemic, the department's Watchable Wildlife Program will be adding mostly critter-based lectures twice each month beginning Jan. 7. The 90-minute lectures will be hosted by AZGFD biologists... Full story
Hunters asked to continue voluntary lead-reduction efforts this fall. Arizona hunters have proven their long-held commitment to wildlife conservation by voluntarily working to reduce the amount of lead exposure to endangered California condors, and the Arizona Game and Fish Department (AZGFD) is encouraging all hunters to join the effort this fall. Hunters drawn for hunts in Game Management Units 12 and 13 (north Kaibab National Forest and Arizona Strip) are eligible to participate in the depart... Full story
The public is invited to the release of the endangered California Condors. This will take place on Saturday, Sept. 22 at Vermilion Cliffs National Monument. There is nothing quite as iconic in the western United States as a California Condor soaring over the red-rock-canyon landscapes of northern Arizona and southern Utah. Thanks to people working together to recover this species, condors have become a fixture in southwestern skies. On National Public Lands Day On National Public Lands Day this... Full story
GRAND CANYON, Ariz. -- The Arizona Game and Fish Department is asking the Sierra Club to retract a fundraising letter that makes false statements about Arizona’s endangered condor population. The department (AZGFD) says untrue claims were made about hazards to condor health in a fundraising letter from Michael Brune, executive director of the Sierra Club. In his June 24 fundraising appeal, Brune claims a link between uranium mining and condor health. Despite a moratorium against uranium mines i... Full story
For more than 20 years, the Heritage Fund has made a difference not just to wildlife conservation efforts, but also to the state's economy, public access, environmental education and outdoor recreation. Passed by voters as a ballot initiative in 1990 by a 2-1 ratio, the fund provides up to $10 million each year from Arizona lottery proceeds to the Arizona Game and Fish Department for the conservation and protection of the state's wildlife and natural areas. Protect, Provide, Educate The... Full story
Did you know that your state taxes do not support the conservation of Arizona's wildlife, but your donations do? Taxpayers can help the state's wildlife at tax time by "making a mark" on their state income tax form. The Arizona Wildlife Fund is a voluntary program that allows Arizona taxpayers to make a donation to specifically help imperiled and endangered wildlife, including majestic bald eagles, black-footed ferrets, California condors, Apache trout, Mexican wolves and desert tortoises,... Full story
The Arizona Game and Fish Department disagrees with a recent appeal filed by environmental litigants to regulate lead ammunition on the Kaibab National Forest as the solution to lead poisoning in endangered California condors. Three groups that want the U.S. Forest Service to place a mandatory ban on hunting with lead ammunition in northern Arizona lost their original lawsuit against the Kaibab National Forest filed in 2012. Game and Fish intervened in the original lawsuit by the Sierra Club,... Full story
The Southwest Condor Workgroup - a cooperative venture between wildlife conservation and public land management agencies - optimistically reports that a California condor may have hatched in the wild in Utah for the first time since the endangered species was released in Vermilion Cliffs National Monument in northern Arizona in 1996. Biologists are waiting to visually confirm the chick's existence before the milestone becomes official, but recent behaviors by the adult pair are encouraging. "It... Full story
If you want to use non-lead ammunition for your hunt this year, now is the time to start shopping. The Arizona Game and Fish Department is expecting a repeat of last year’s non-lead ammunition shortage this hunting season. Those intending to hunt big game in California or in condor areas in Arizona (Game Management Units 12A, 12B, 13A and 13B), are strongly encouraged to buy their non-lead ammunition supplies as soon as possible. Last year, many hunters who waited to shop at small community s... Full story
Did you know that your state taxes do not support the conservation of Arizona"s wildlife, but your donations do? Taxpayers can help the state's wildlife at tax time by "making a mark" on their state income tax form. The Arizona Wildlife Fund is a voluntary program that allows Arizona taxpayers to make a donation to specifically help imperiled and endangered wildlife, including majestic bald eagles, black-footed ferrets, California condors, Apache trout, Mexican wolves and desert tortoises,...
Despite a nationwide shortage in non-lead ammunition, Arizona's hunters continued to demonstrate their support for the Arizona Game and Fish Department's voluntary lead reduction program in 2013 by using non-lead ammunition or removing gut piles from the field to benefit endangered California condors. Surveys show that 88 percent of hunters took one of the two measures to reduce the amount of available spent lead ammunition in the condor's core range. The level of participation was equal to the... Full story
Non-lead ammunition supply issues across the nation are prompting the Arizona Game and Fish Department to remind hunters in the California condor's core range that they can still help reduce the amount of lead available to the birds by removing gut piles from the field. Hunters in Arizona's condor range who remove their gut piles (lead ammunition only) are eligible to be entered into a raffle that offers prizes including a trip on the Grand Canyon Railroad with a two-night stay at the canyon,... Full story
Hunters in Arizona continue to prove to the critics that voluntary efforts to conserve endangered wildlife do work, often better than mandated measures. In the last five years, 80 to 90 percent of hunters in Arizona’s condor range have taken measures to reduce the amount of spent lead ammunition that is available to California condors. Arizona’s voluntary lead-reduction program has been well supported by hunters, and they deserve a thank you for continuing sportsmens’ proud tradition of being th... Full story
Three 2012 Chicks Bring Total Condors To 77 Third wild-hatched California condor chick confirmed in Arizona-Utah population GRAND CANYON, Ariz. — A biologist from the Peregrine Fund was finally able to obtain visual confirmation of a wild-hatched California condor chick that had been suspected, but not seen, in a nest cave deep in Grand Canyon National Park. This confirmed sighting brings the total number of wild condor chicks produced by the Arizona-Utah flock this season to three. “Based on... Full story
Did you know that your state taxes do not support the conservation of Arizona's wildlife, but your donations do? Taxpayers can help the state's wildlife at tax time by "making a mark" on their state income tax form. The Arizona Wildlife Fund is a voluntary program that allows Arizona taxpayers to make a donation to help imperiled and endangered wildlife, including majestic bald eagles, black-footed ferrets, California condors, Apache trout, Mexican wolves and desert tortoises, among other non-ga... Full story
Endangered California Condors Celebrate 15th Anniversary PHOENIX — The endangered California condor population that now spans Arizona and Utah is celebrating a significant milestone this month: the 15th anniversary of the first release of the birds into Arizona after being gone from the area for nearly 100 years. In December 1996, six condors were released from an acclimation pen atop the Vermilion Cliffs in northern Arizona. Today, the population consists of more than 70 birds that now also u... Full story