Wildlife Sanctuaries

Ventana Wildlife Society safeguards habitats across California’s central coast, ensuring that condors and other native wildlife can thrive for generations to come. From releasing birds into the wild to rescuing the injured, our sanctuaries provide safe havens where conservation happens every day. This vital work - caring for critically endangered condors and protecting their habitats - is sustained by the lasting legacy of our generous donors. Learn more about our Legacy Society.

Big Sur Condor Sanctuary

OUR BEGINNING: Originally purchased in 1977 by Salvatore Lucido, Gerald and Donald Petkus, they worked tirelessly to establish the property, including the construction of an access road, and the early beginnings of what we now know as Ventana Wildlife Society.  Once the site of a successful Bald Eagle Re-introduction Program (1986–1995), the Big Sur Condor Sanctuary has been central to California Condor recovery since 1996. Thanks to the generosity of Salvatore and Ada Lucido, who sold the land at a bargain price, the organization secured the property in 2011. Today, this remote site is vital to restoring condors to the wild remains at the heart of our mission. 

DESCRIPTION: This 80-acre sanctuary contains woodlands, coastal scrub, and grasslands in a canyon overlooking the rugged Big Sur coastline. Surrounded by Ventana Wilderness, the sanctuary provides ideal habitat for California Condor nesting, roosting, and scavenging.

STATUS: The property was purchased in 2011 with funds provided by the Hind Foundation and William R. Hearst, III, as well as Linda Stevens, Paula Norwood, Robert Stephens, Joyce Harris and Julian and Helga Sands.

HIGHLIGHTS: Ventana Wildlife Society released Bald Eagles here in the 1980s in a successful bid to re-establish a breeding population in central California. The sanctuary is now the site of California Condor releases and Ventana Wildlife Society’s research and management efforts aimed at the full recovery of condors in the wild.

California Condor Recovery Program

Bald Eagle Re-introduction Program

DEVESTATION: In August 2020, we watched the Dolan Fire sweep through the property, destroying our Condor Release Facility, the biologists’ research cabin, and, heartbreakingly, claiming the lives of 12 wild California Condors.

REBUILD: With your help, nearly five years to the day, we completed rebuilding the facilities! We continue rebuilding the flock, and together, we are giving California Condors a second chance to soar freely in the wild.

watch - Big Sur Condor-cam

---

A night we will always remember...
Watch as Sr Wildlife Biologist, Joe Burnett, recounts those fateful hours and shares his unforgettably emotional story on this journey from severe loss to complete rebuild.

Donate to save the condors

---

San Simeon Condor Sanctuary

DESCRIPTION:  This property has coastal scrub habitat, mixed conifers, oak woodland, and an understory of grasses and shrubs as well as several natural springs.  ​

STATUS: Located on private property, not open to the public. 

HIGHLIGHTS: In 2016, a condor pair began nesting near the San Simeon Sanctuary, extending the breeding distribution of the species along the central coast. After the Dolan Fire resulted in the loss of approximately 10% of the central California population in 2020, we released nine captive-bred condors at the San Simeon Sanctuary, a group that helped stabilize the population in subsequent months.

watch San Simeon condor-cam

Vertical Divider

​Lake Nacimiento Bald Eagle Sanctuary

DESCRIPTION: This sanctuary protects 80 acres of open woodland and shoreline along Lake Nacimiento in northern San Luis Obispo County. Tall pines and close proximity to the lake provide excellent nesting and feeding habitat for Bald Eagles. 

STATUS: We purchased the property in 2006 to protect nesting eagles, thanks to Bill and Sally Irving, who generously donated the majority of the land's value as a gift, and Cal and Letty French, who provided the funding to cover the cash portion of the purchase.

HIGHLIGHTS: In 1995, a Bald Eagle pair began nesting at the sanctuary, becoming one of the first in the recovered central California population to breed.

---

Stewards of the Land
​Ventana Wildlife Society honors Indigenous Peoples as the original stewards of the lands where condors soar and where several of our sanctuaries are located today. We recognize the enduring connections of the Rumsen Ohlone in Carmel Valley, the Esselen in Big Sur, and the Salinan in San Simeon and Lake Nacimiento to their ancestral territories. These protected lands, though not open to the general public, serve as sanctuaries for condors, eagles, and other native wildlife - safeguarded for future generations and for the benefit of all.

Condor cams

the Condor Chat

donate

subscribe

shop