How the Condor Cam Helps

Our Condor Cam system successfully solved a monitoring and management problem often faced by conservationists: the need to observe without being seen. By enabling observation of the condors from a distance, the Condor Cam proved extremely valuable as a condor management tool. A permanent visual record could be saved of any unusual behaviors. The birds’ weight and general health could be monitored.

Because the Condor Cam system is also designed to transmit condor images to the Internet, the condors could have been seen by millions on both the TerraFocus Web site and on the Ventana Wilderness Society’s Web site.

The Condor Cam would take you right into the pens where condor chicks are prepared for release into the wild in northern California at the Pinnacles National Monument. You would also have been able to see free-flying condors that were previously released and then returned to visit the new chicks (condors are very social animals) or to feed on carcasses (stillborn calves from a nearby dairy) that are provided by VWS.

Sadly, after over two years of work on the project, we were not able to implement the Condor Cam II system due to administrative and location issues with the relocated release site, So, we are not able to transmit live images to the Internet. Condor Cam I provided local observation capabilities to the Ventana Wilderness Society at their Big Sur release site.