TUCSON, Ariz. -- Federal officials last week investigated a California condor's shooting death in Grand Canyon National Park but refused to provide any details -- or even to confirm that the bird was shot.
But one source said three young men in northern Arizona were potential suspects in the condor shooting, the first in Arizona since reintroduction of the giant birds began.The female bird was hatched in April 1995 at the Los Angeles Zoo and was released in May 1997 at the Vermilion Cliffs about 80 miles north of Flagstaff near the Utah border. It was recaptured two months later because it was emaciated, and after rehabilitation at a center in San Diego was re-released the following month.
Its shooting was the first of reintroduced condors in Arizona, but one bird close to the Ventana Wilderness in Southern California was wounded by a gunshot last May in its right leg. It was brought in for treatment in June but died in August, said Jeff Cilek of the Peregrine Fund.
The Boise-based organization, which is heading the reintroduction program in Arizona in partnership with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, has 41 condors at its propagation facility now.
Hans Stuart, a regional spokesman for Fish and Wildlife in Albuquerque, N.M., said Friday he could not say where or when the bird was found -- or even confirm that it was shot -- although a day earlier, another agency spokesman and an Arizona Game and Fish Department representative did confirm a shooting.
Other, informed sources verified the shooting Friday but declined to be identified.
"Our law enforcement people don't release details of investigations until they're closed," Stuart said. "All I know is we are investigating the death of a female condor."
Maureen Oltrogge, a spokeswoman for the Grand Canyon National Park, also declined Friday to characterize the bird's death as a shooting, saying Fish and Wildlife was in charge of the investigation. But she said park officials were notified Monday after the dead bird was located somewhere in the canyon.
Terry Johnson, endangered species coordinator for the Arizona Game and Fish Department in Phoenix, said Fish and Wildlife is in charge of the case because the bird is a federal endangered species.
The bird was among 20 condors that have been released at the Vermilion Cliffs since 1996. Of those, 14 remain alive and free. In addition to the latest fatality, one condor was presumed to have died from a golden eagle attack, another was dead from a collision with a power line and a third was dead from a presumed predator attack.
A fourth has been missing since August and is presumed dead and another was returned to the Peregrine Fund's facility in Boise after approaching and being fed by humans, Stuart said.
In addition, eight condors were released Nov. 18 at Hurricane Cliffs, of which all but one remain. One condor is dead, presumed to have been attacked by a coyote, he said.
So the total number of condors still flying in Arizona is 21, Stuart said.
The carrion-eating birds with a nearly 10-foot wingspan had been absent from Arizona's skies since the 1920s.
Intentionally killing an endangered species can bring a year's imprisonment and a $100,000 fine. Discharging a firearm in Grand Canyon National Park is also illegal.