Bald Eagles Return to Santa Cruz Island
Santa Cruz Island, Calif. —July 23, 2004— Biologists placed 10 baby bald eagles from Alaska into Santa Cruz Island “hack towers” today as part of a five-year effort to reestablish the bird in the Northern Channel Islands. The birds will remain in the cliff-top towers for about a month, until they are ready to take their first flight.
“Bald eagles are one of the key missing elements of the island’s natural ecosystem,” said Channel Islands National Park Superintendent Russell Galipeau. “They used to occur on all of the California Channel Islands. Their reestablishment is a significant step toward restoring the biological diversity of the park.”
Bald eagles disappeared from the islands approximately 30 years ago, when DDT dumped into the ocean tainted their marine-based food supply. The effort to repopulate Santa Cruz Island—now in its third year—is funded by a legal settlement against the pesticide’s manufacturers.
The Nature Conservancy, which own 76 percent of Santa Cruz Island, supports the reestablishment of bald eagles as part of its joint, island-wide restoration program, which includes breeding island foxes, relocating golden eagles, and eliminating nonnative feral pigs from the island.
In the absence of bald eagles, non-native golden eagles began establishing residency on Santa Cruz Island in the 1990s. Lured there by the abundance of feral pigs, golden eagles have also preyed upon the island fox, pushing it to the brink of extinction. Today, fewer than 100 island foxes remain on Santa Cruz Island.
“Our hope is that once the bald eagles mature and mate, they’ll defend their territory and deter golden eagles from returning,” said Dr. Lotus Vermeer, project director of The Nature Conservancy’s Santa Cruz Island Preserve.
Since 2002, the National Park Service has reintroduced a total of 35 bald eagles to the island.
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