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We Are Proud to Announce
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Top News
- Step into socks that help support California Condors. Check out Socksmith’s Endangered Species Collection and purchase confidently knowing you’re making a difference… with every step you take.
- Donate to Save the Condors Fund and help us reach $410.000 by October 2025! If existing donors give 25% more than last year and we gain at least 150 new donors, together, we can keep these magnificent California Condors - flying free! Your support is needed now more than ever to fuel our strategy of Condor Recovery Actions for the success of this Critically Endangered Species.
- Summer is here! Visit our Big Sur Discovery Center located in the breathtaking Andrew Molera State Park, home to a must see exhibit, Wildlife of Big Sur. Open Saturdays & Sundays 10:00AM - 4:00PM through Sept. 1, 2025. We are also offering family friendly free 1-hour Nature Programs every Sunday at 10:00AM in June, July, and August. Pop-in for this nature talk, guided walk, or Condor Canyon screening.
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Central California Flock
HPAI vaccination update: |
89% of wild condors are now vaccinated against Highly Pathogenic Avian Influenza (HPAI)
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more news . . .
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If you find a sick/injured or deceased condor
Please do not attempt to handle or move them. Please contact us ASAP and we will assist. |
Species Recovery
Bald Eagles
Ventana Wildlife Society restored a breeding population of Bald Eagles to the California central coast from 1986-2000.
Ventana Wildlife Society restored a breeding population of Bald Eagles to the California central coast from 1986-2000.
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Bald Eagles are breeding once again in the central California coast region, thanks to a successful re-introduction project. From 1986-2000, we released 70 juvenile Bald Eagles (Haliaeetus leucocephalus) at our Big Sur wildlife sanctuary. Our goal was to establish a population of four adult breeding Bald Eagle pairs, in the hopes of creating a self-sustaining population. At our last count, we found 30 nesting territories and the wild Bald Eagle population is thriving!
This video, filmed June 13, 2024, shows a mother feeding her eaglets in San Simeon, CA. These descendants of the 70 Bald Eagles released over 24 years ago are a testament to our species recovery program's success! |
California Condors
Restoring California Condors to the wild since 1997
Restoring California Condors to the wild since 1997
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By the 1980s, the California Condor (Gymnogyps californianus) population was in crisis, and extinction in the wild seemed imminent. The dramatic decline of condors in the 20th century has been attributed to shooting, poisoning, electric power lines, egg collecting, and habitat loss. In 1987, the last wild California Condor was taken into captivity to join the 26 remaining condors in an attempt to bolster the population through a captive breeding program. At that time, it was uncertain whether or not North America's largest flying land bird (by wingspan, 9.5 feet) would ever again soar in the wild.
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Education
Connecting Youth to Nature Since 1992
Connecting Youth to Nature Since 1992
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Since 1992, we've been providing outdoor education programs for youth. We pick them up in our fleet of four 15-passenger vans, meeting in communities from Castroville to Salinas, and inland from Prunedale to Greenfield. Our destinations have included whale watching boats in the bay, kayaks at Elkhorn Slough, tidepools at Point Pinos, caves in Pinnacles National Park, and forests in the Ventana Wilderness. We provide opportunities for children who have never experienced these things before and offer the discovery of a new world, new emotions, and new possibilities. More than 1,300 youth enroll in our outdoor education programs each year, but we still focus on the individual, their unique discoveries, and the potential they have to shape the lives of others.
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VWS works multiple Monterey County communities to provide weekly off-site nature classes for youth during the school year while monthly on-site Community Outdoor Club Meetings, single-day field trips and overnight campouts for multigenerational participants occur year-round. More . . .
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Donate, Give Today
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Shop For Gifts
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Symbolically Adopt-A-Condor
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