National Audubon Society Special: Condor

Robert Redford narrates this moving look at the plight of the California Condor (whose population declined considerably in the early 80s), and the efforts of scientists and naturalists to save the species from extinction. As the program opens during 1985, only 6 condors remain in the wild. Through the joint efforts of the Condor Research Center and the San Diego Wild Animal Park, scientists have taken some 21 condors into captivity, radio tagged the remaining wild condors, and closely monitored their egg production. When only one breeding couple remained, the team stepped in with an "egg rescue mission," removing eggs to be hatched in captivity, and hoping that the couple would mate and produce another egg. The program, though terribly slow, was reasonably successful, and the video concludes with the hope that the condor population will reach 60-100 by the turn of the century. Unfortunately, the program is a bit dated: the last wild condor was taken into captivity in 1987, and recent work has focused on introducing the Andean condor into California. On the one hand then, Condor is a beautiful documentary which has much to recommend it; on the other, no epilogue informs the viewer of developments over the succeeding half-decade. Recommended, with the above reservation. (See THE AIDS QUARTERLY for availability.)