Yurok tribe considers bringing back Condors

The Daily Triplicate

The Yurok Indian tribe is considering reintroducing endangered California condors into the lower Klamath River basin, a move that could bring back a bird not seen in the region in more than a century.


The tribe, based in Klamath, began a two-day summit Friday with state and federal officials as well as condor experts to talk about the chances of returning the world’s largest land bird to the region.

In 2008, the Yurok Tribe received a $200,000 grant from the U.S. Fish

and Wildlife Service to study the feasibility of reintroducing California

condors to the tribe’s ancestral territory.

Currently, the Yurok Tribe’s reservation, which includes these ancestral lands, encompass one mile on either side of the Klamath River from its mouth at the Pacific Ocean to 44 miles upstream.

The Mail Tribune newspaper in Medford reported that, so far, condor populations have been re-established only in Arizona, Southern California and Mexico.

The Klamath River basin would be the most northerly site for the massive birds.