Why was the decision made to capture all the wild condors in 1986?
Rich: It was incredibly controversial, that decision. There were two schools of thought. One was: if it is their time to go, let them go with dignity. The other was: human beings were the reasons for the decline, we owe it to them to try to save them. Estelle: If we hadn’t, they certainly would have died out. I think it was AC3’s death that finally catalyzed the decision. She died a prolonged death from lead poisoning. By the time researchers were able to actually capture her and treat her, it was too late.
