The lyrics are likely well-known to you, especially if you are old enough to recall the melodic and poetic impact of the works of Simon and Garfunkel:
Away, I’d rather sail away
Like a swan that’s here and gone,
Its saddest sound.
I’d rather be a forest than a street.
Yes, I would,
If I could, I surely would.
I’d rather feel the earth under my feet.
After all the work and effort of trying to bring a magnificent animal back from the very brink of extinction, the Trump Administration has just passed a sweeping changethat would strip the Endangered Species Act of key provisions, a move that conservationists say would weaken a law enacted 45 years ago to keep plants and animals in decline from going extinct.
El Condor Pasais is considered by Peruvians their second national anthem even though the cherished melody was taken and adapted by Paul Simon from a traditional folk song of the Andean peoples in the late 1960’s. In fact, in what was considered an amiable lawsuit in the 1970’s, which resulted in Simon’s being labeled as the co-writer of lyrics along with several Peruvian composers; Simon, who had been misinformed that the song was simply an Andean folk melody, was eager to honor the ownership to the original country and people.
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| Hand puppets used to prevent imprinting as chicks were laboriously raised. |
El Condor Pasa - The Condor Passes
From Cornell Ornithology Lab: “The spectacular but endangered California Condor is the largest bird in North America. These superb gliders travel widely to feed on carcasses of deer, pigs, cattle, sea lions, whales, and other animals. Pairs nest in caves high on cliff faces. The population fell to just 22 birds in the 1980s, but there are now some 230 free-flying birds in California, Arizona, and Baja California with another 160 in captivity. Lead poisoning remained a severe threat to their long-term prospects.”
But now it is the Trump Administration.
“One of the first things the Interior Department did under its new secretary, Ryan Zinke, was rescind an Obama administration regulation that outlawed hunting with lead shot.
“President Trump’s administration unveiled a proposal Thursday that would strip the Endangered Species Act of key provisions, a move that conservationists say would weaken a law enacted 45 years ago to keep plants and animals in decline from going extinct.
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| Puppet feeding |
“The proposal, announced jointly by the Interior and Commerce departments, which are charged with protecting endangered wildlife, would end the practice of extending similar protections to species regardless whether they are listed as endangered or threatened. If the proposal is approved, likely by year’s end, protections for threatened plants and animals would be made on a case-by-case basis.
“In another rollback of a key provision, the administration wants the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration to strike language that guides officials to ignore economic impacts when determining how wildlife should be protected.
‘“We propose to remove the phrase ‘without reference to possible economic or other impacts of such determination’… to more closely align with the statutory language,” the proposed rule says. “The act requires the secretary to make determinations based ‘solely on the basis of the best scientific and commercial data.’ ”
“Conservationists who worried about the changes, expected for months, said their fears have been realized. They decried numerous aspects of the proposal, including the removal of a requirement compelling federal agencies to consult with scientists and wildlife agencies before approving permits for ventures such as oil and gas drilling and logging.
“These regulations are the heart of how the Endangered Species Act is implemented. Imperiled species depend on them for their very lives,’” said Jamie Rappaport Clark, who was director of the Fish and Wildlife Service under President Bill Clinton. Clark is now president and chief executive of Defenders of Wildlife, a nonprofit advocacy group.
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| America the Beautiful |
“’Unfortunately, the sweeping changes being proposed by the Trump administration include provisions that would undercut the effectiveness of the ESA and put species at risk of extinction,’”Clark said. “The signal being sent by the Trump administration is clear: Protecting America’s wildlife and wild lands is simply not on their agenda.’
“In April, the administration weakened a century-old law to protect birds by issuing guidance that says it would not be used as it had been to hold people or companies accountable for killing the animals.
“The Interior Department told police who enforce the Migratory Bird Treaty Act that killing birds “when the underlying purpose of that activity” is not intended to kill them, is no longer prohibited. For example, the new guidance says, a person who destroys a barn knowing that it is full of baby owls in nests is not liable for killing them.
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| More puppet feeding... |
“A mass killing of birds resulting from a catastrophic event such as the Deepwater Horizon oil spill, which destroyed or injured up to a million birds, would no longer be punished under the treaty. Interior would pursue penalties under the Natural Resources Damage Assessment program that is not specific to birds. In the past, “the department has pursued MBTA claims against companies responsible for oil spills that incidentally killed or injured migratory birds. That avenue is no longer available.”
“Other bills would make federal wildlife officials look past evidence collected by their own scientists and defer to data collected by states as “the best scientific and commercial data available,” even though state funding of science related to endangered species is a small fraction of federal funding.”
Other threatened and endangered animals facing immediate endangerment from this move:
Gray Wolf
Humpback Whale
Black-Footed Ferret
Bald Eagle
Manatee
More amazing information about the Condor from Cornell:
· In the late Pleistocene, about 40,000 years ago, California Condors were found throughout North America. At this time, giant mammals roamed the continent, offering condors a reliable food supply. When Lewis and Clark explored the Pacific Northwest in 1805 they found condors there. Until the 1930s, they occurred in the mountains of Baja California.
· One reason California Condor recovery has been slow is their extremely slow reproduction rate. Female condors lay only one egg per nesting attempt, and they don’t always nest every year. The young depend on their parents for more than 12 months, and take 6-8 years to reach maturity.
· Condors soar slowly and stably. They average about 30 mph in flight and can get up to over 40 mph. They take about 16 seconds to complete a circle in soaring flight. By comparison, Bald Eagles and Golden Eagles normally circle in 12–14 seconds, and Red-tailed Hawks circle in about 8–10 seconds.
· At carcasses, California Condors dominate other scavengers. The exception is when a Golden Eagle is present. Although the condor weighs about twice as much as an eagle, the superior talons of the eagle command respect.
· Condors can survive 1–2 weeks without eating. When they find a carcass they eat their fill, storing up to 3 pounds of meat in their crop (a part of the esophagus) before they leave.
· California Condors once foraged on offshore islands, visiting mammal and seabird colonies to eat carrion, eggs and possibly live prey such as nestlings.
· In cold weather, condors raise their neck feathers to keep warm. In hot weather, condors (and other vultures) urinate onto a leg. As the waste evaporates, it cools off blood circulating in the leg, lowering the whole body temperature. Condors bathe frequently and this helps avoid buildup of wastes on the legs.
· Adult condors sometimes temporarily restrain an overenthusiastic nestling by placing a foot on its neck and clamping it to the floor. This forceful approach is also a common way for an adult to remove a nestling’s bill from its throat at the end of a feeding.
· Young may take months to perfect flight and landings. “Crash” landings have been observed in young four months after their first flight.
· California Condors can probably live to be 60 or more years old—although none of the condors now alive are older than 40 yet.
· What’s in a name? The name “condor” comes from cuntur, which originated from the Inca name for the Andean Condor. Their scientific name, Gymnogyps californianus, comes from the Greek words gymnos, meaning naked, and refers to the head, and gypsmeaning vulture; californianus is Latin and refers to the birds’ range.
