FRESNO, Calif.—Biologists at Pinnacles National Monument are
celebrating the first condor egg laid by a mating pair inside
the park boundaries in more than a century.   A female released
in 2004 in the Central California park and a male released the
same year 30 miles west at Big Sur had been observed engaged in
courtship behavior earlier this year, park spokesman Carl
Brenner said.         Of the 77 eggs laid in the wild since
2001, 33 lived for at least six months—long enough to fly—with
the success rate increasing every year, Woodbridge said.
Condors, with 10-foot wingspans, generally mate for life. By
coincidence the Pinnacles pair with the egg are numerically
sequenced—female 317 and male 318 in the population being
tracked. It was the first mating attempt by both.    Pinnacles
biologists have swapped out the new egg for a wooden one, Fifty-
seven days from now—or shortly before the egg is due to
hatch—they will replace it with a viable egg produced by condors
in captivity.      ps 05/10/10 - Have you a