Two California condors are missing and may have perished in the Big Sur wildfires that destroyed part of a condor sanctuary run by the Ventana Wildlife Society.
S.D. Zoological Society officials are asking for donations to help replace the destroyed release pens and equipment of its conservation partner as quickly as possible. Fortunately, seven young condors and their adult mentor condor were rescued from remote pens just before the flames swept through.
The wildfire began June 24. Radio transmissions from the two missing condors were last detected June 25.
Also, the fate of a chick in its nest in a redwood tree directly in the fire's path is unknown, but GPS devices attached to its parents' wings indicate they are making trips back to the nest. Biologists hope they are feeding the chick.
The San Diego Wild Animal Park has hatched 20 condors that have been released at the Ventana sanctuary over the years, about half of the current wild population there. A Zoo spokeswoman says they do not yet know if the missing birds were local hatchlings.
Considering only about 80 condors remain in California, Zoo officials consider any loss of life a setback in the species' recovery.
The show goes on
A power line failure plunged the Girl Scouts Council headquarters in Balboa Park into darkness during a troop roundtable Tuesday evening. Staffers' Scout training came in handy as they passed out candles and continued the program.
“We told you we'd give you dinner,” membership development head Ana Luisa Ponce told participants. “We just didn't tell you it would be served by candlelight.”
Cycling secrets
San Diego video producer John DeBello wasn't surprised when Carlos Sastre and his CSC teammates won the Tour de France.
His company, Loma Media, witnessed the cycling team's rigorous training regimen in February while shooting a video for the team, which was in California to compete in the Tour of California time trials.
DeBello calls it “the toughest training camp for any team in any sport I've ever worked with.” It operated like a boot camp with manager Bjarne Riis filling dual roles of drill instructor and sports psychologist.
DeBello's video shows how Riis systematically hands out water to passing cyclists from the team car. Riis did this again last Sunday in the final stage of the Tour de France – only this time he handed a bottle of champagne to Sastre.
Playing for life
Former Green Bay Packer running back John Brockington never dreamed he'd be following in the footsteps of Katherine Heigl.
The “Grey's Anatomy” actress received Donate Life America's James S. Wolf Courage Award last year for promoting organ donation. This summer, the award went to Brockington, who lives in San Diego.
In 2001 he received a life-saving kidney from San Diegan Diane Scott, now his wife, and they created the John Brockington Foundation to highlight the need for donor registration.
When Brockington recently accepted the award in Phoenix, he expected audience queries like those asked of Heigl, who was quizzed about organ donation episodes on “Grey's Anatomy.”
He hardly anticipated the first two questions: “Is Brett (Favre) coming back?” and “What was it like to play for Woody (Hayes)?” when Brockington attended Ohio State.
Around town
Anyone who suffers a health emergency at Petco Park tonight will be in capable hands. More than 10,000 Scripps Health employees and friends are expected to attend the game.
Scripps Health board chairman Richard Vortmann will throw out the first pitch. Anika Aguirre, who works at Scripps Mercy in Chula Vista, will sing the national anthem. Now, if they could just repair Khalil Greene's broken hand . . .
Diane Bell's column appears Tuesdays, Thursdays and Saturdays. Fax items to (619) 260-5009, call (619) 293-1518 or e-mail to diane.bell@uniontrib.com.
