Condors Comprehension Passage

Condors
Few scientists know about condors, but many are aware that these giant birds of
incomparable majesty have dwindled to less than 35 in the 1970s. In an effort to solve the
mystery and save this species, scientists gathered for a brainstorming session. Abe and a
few others proposed fitting some condors with radio transmitters to track them and learn
about their nesting and feeding habits. With radio telemetry, they could also locate dead
birds and discover the cause of their death. Other condors would be trapped for breeding in
captivity. To produce a captive stock rapidly, Abe suggested taking eggs from nests to hatch
in incubators. He knows that most bird species will 'double-clutch' and lay a second egg in
the same breeding season if the first is lost. He thinks that condors are no exception.
As expected, Abe's proposals sparked off a howl of protest from a group of equally
concerned conservation groups. They claimed that a bird raised in captivity would never
adjust in the wild. One even proclaimed that the condor 'is not an electric toy to play with,
blindfold, manhandle, peer into, wire for sound, or put behind bars'. After months of
bureaucratic infighting, Abe was finally granted a permit to carry out his program. With a few
members of the rescue condor team, Abe set out the task of tracking the bird. Before long,
they spotted two condors at a nesting cave. Watching through a telescope, they were
enthralled to see one of the birds lay a pale blue egg. 54 days later, a member saw a beak
cutting through the shell. On the morning of the 56th day, there was a new-born chick. With
the parents away foraging, Abe decided to weigh and measure the nestling.
The scientists continued to observe the bids from afar. By photographing each bird in flight,
they developed methods of individual identification that led to an accurate census. They
managed to have two condors flying with a radio transmitter and a numbered tag on each
wing. The captive-breeding program was also fully launched in the early 1980s as the
scientists began pulling eggs from nests. All were successfully hatched at the San Diego
Zoo. The breeding pairs in the wild promptly laid second, even third, eggs proving Abe right
about double-clutching. One day, a transmitter signal alerted scientists that a condor in the
High Sierra was not moving. The bird's frost-covered body was found. A post-mortem
revealed a silver of a lead bullet in the bird's gut plus toxic levels of the metal in its blood.
The condor had probably ingested the bullet fragment while feeding on a hunter-killed deer.
In captivity, the wild birds bred easily. Their keepers worked behind one-way mirrors and
used hand puppets, shaped and textured like an adult condor's head and neck, for feeding
and preening. This was done so that the chicks would not catch a glimpse of people and
could not imprint to them. When a total of 13 chicks hatched in 1990, the scientists were
convinced that the captive condor flock would continue to increase rapidly. They were also
encouraged by the arrival on the market of all-copper bullets that had superior ballistics to
lead bullets. If hunters chose them and if copper proved less toxic to condors, the bullets
might be a major step in saving the majestic birds.
In late 1991, four young condors were flown by helicopter to a high ridge in a sanctuary.
They were freed into a spacious roost box, stuccoed to simulate a cave. Outside the door
was a nylon-netted feeding ledge from which the four could gaze out over the mountains and
feel the wind in their feathers. They remained in the pen for two months to become
acclimatised. On the day the scientists were waiting for, a cloudless morning, the door from
the roost to the ledge was opened. During the night, the nylon mesh had been taken away,
and now nothing stood between the birds and freedom. One after the other, heads bobbing
in curiosity, the birds spread their glossy wings and hopped into the air. Clumsily plopping
back to the ledge, they flapped and hopped until, one by one, they managed a brief wobbly
flight.
A month later, the four condors were spotted near the cliffs, soaring and gliding in the
thermals. By December 1992, eight condors had been freed. More birds would be freed in
the coming years. The scientists knew that they were right on schedule and that the
California condor would be back.
Read the passage and answer the questions
From paragraph 1 :
1
. (a) Why do scientists worry about the condors?
Answers:
(b) How would scientists learn about the nesting and feeding habits of condors ?
Answers:
From paragraph 2 :
2. (a) Who did not accept Abe's 'double-clutch' proposal ?
Answers:
(b) Why ?
Answers:
From paragraph 3 :
3. (a) How did Abe and his team manage to get an accurate census of the condors ?
Answers:
(b) How successful was the captive-breeding program ?

Answers:
From paragraph 4 :
4. Explain why the keepers had to use hand puppets shaped like an adult condor's head and
neck.
Answers:
From paragraph 5 :
5. (a) How did the condors react when the nylon mesh was removed ?
Answers:
(b) How successful were the condors in learning to fly initially ?
Answers:
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Condors

Read the passage and answer the questions

2. (a) Who did not accept Abe's 'double-clutch' proposal ?

(b) How successful was the captive-breeding program ?

(b) How successful were the condors in learning to fly initially ?

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