Seroepidemiologic Survey of Potential Pathogens in Obligate and Facultative Scavenging Avian Species in California

Straub, Mary H.; Kelly, Terra R.; Rideout, Bruce A.; Eng, Curtis; Wynne, Janna; Braun, Josephine; Johnson, Christine K.

Free-flying California condors (n = 96) were sampled between September 2010 and January 2011 at three release sites in California: Big Sur in Monterey County (n = 34); Pinnacles National Park in San Benito County (n = 20); and Bitter Creek National Wildlife Refuge in Kern County (n = 42) as part of an on-going monitoring and recovery program (Fig 1) . These condors were either raised in captivity and subsequently released into the wild, or raised in the wild. Because condors occasionally travel between these sites, they were classified by their original release location. Serum samples were also obtained from 28 California condors in captivity at the San Diego Zoo Safari Park (SDZSP) and 13 California condors in captivity at the Los Angeles Zoo (LAZ) during routine examinations between January 2008 and August 2012 ( Fig 1) . These birds were held in captivity throughout their lives and were never released to the wild prior to sample collection. All California condors were uniquely identified by patagium tags.