Camarillo, Calif. (Mar. 5, 2010) – CSU Channel Islands (CI) is pleased to announce the opening
of the Condor Chocuyens Exhibit on Thursday, Mar. 11, at 1:30 p.m. in the Millennium News
Center at the John Spoor Broome Library. The program is sponsored by the U.S. Fish and
Wildlife Service (USFWS), the CI Biology Program, the CI Environmental Science & Resource
Management Program, and the John Spoor Broome Library. The program is open to the public.
Speakers for the opening program will be CI President Richard R. Rush; Amy Denton, Chair
of the Biology Program; Marc Weitzel, Project Leader for the Hopper Mountain National
Wildlife Complex; Jesse Grantham, Condor Coordinator for the California Condor Recovery
Program; and Christopher Cogan, Assistant Professor, CI Environmental Sciences & Resource
Management Program. Their comments will also include information on an upcoming series
offered by the University that will feature topics on the environment, conservation,
and endangered species.
This program will present Chocuyens, the impressive California condor with a 9.5 foot
wingspan, displayed in a plexiglass case. He was the first captive-bred condor, an
endangered species, to be set free in the wild as part of the California Condor Recovery
Program. Chocuyens captured America’s imagination. Unfortunately he died the following
year from exposure to ethylene glycol, a property found in antifreeze.
The USFWS is lending the exhibit to CI through February 2011. Michael Woodbridge,
Public Affairs Officer for the USFWS, said, “Area residents are privileged to live
in condor country, where you have the opportunity to see this very rare bird flying
free once again.” He explained that there are approximately 40 condors in this area,
mostly in Los Padres National Forest. Other populations of California Condors are flying
free in Big Sur, California, in Grand Canyon, Arizona and in Baja California.
Cogan explains, “The last natural habitat for the California condor is in CI’s backyard.
Three of our students are working at the USFWS and assisting with the Recovery Program.
We have a natural laboratory to study this endangered species and it allows us to expose
students to these birds and their habitat, to forge links with various federal agencies,
and to create a community awareness of our local environmental treasures.”
Angela Chapman, CI Biology Lecturer, initiated efforts to bring the exhibit to campus so
that people would be able to learn more about these magnificent birds and about how to
protect them by keeping wilderness areas free of microtrash like bottle caps and broken
glass which are so harmful to wild animals and birds.
Inquiries regarding the opening may be directed to:
Ellie Tayag at CSU Channel Islands at 805-437-3140 or elnora.tayag@csuci.edu or Michael
Woodbridge at the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service at 805-256-5423 or michael_woodbridge@fws.gov.
For media inquiries please contact Nancy Gill, Director of Communication & Marketing
at CSU Channel Islands at 805-437-8456 or nancy.gill@csuci.edu.
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CSU Channel Islands is accredited by the Accrediting Commission for Senior Colleges and Universities of the Western Association of Schools and Colleges.
CSUCI Mission Statement
Placing students at the center of the educational experience, California State University Channel Islands provides undergraduate and graduate education that facilitates learning within and across disciplines through integrative approaches, emphasizes experiential and service learning, and graduates students with multicultural and international perspectives.
