7749

• UCREFRP Catalog Number: 7749
• Author: Kohm, K. A., ed.
• Title: Editor
• USFW Year: Series
• USFW - Doc Type: 1991
• Copyright Material: YES

LOOKING BACK OVER THE FIRST
FIFTEEN YEARS
by
MICHAEL J . BEAN
ON APRIL 29, 1988, a California condor hatched in the San
Diego Wild Animal Park. This event, the first such hatching ever
to result from condors mated in captivity, was widely hailed as a
dramatic breakthrough in the decades-long struggle to prevent
the extinction of this largest of North American birds. That
success followed by only a few months the birth in Wyoming of
the first litter of black-footed ferrets to survive more than a few
days after being born in captivity. Amidst the celebration of
these conservation milestones, it may be forgiven if a few people
temporarily forgot that years of virtually unparalleled effort
and expense to preserve wild populations of these two species
had already ended in failure. Captive propagation, once in-
tended as a tool to supplement other conservation efforts, now
represents the only hope for these species.
The examples of the condor and ferret underscore the diffi-
culty in assessing the results of the Endangered Species Act. Are
they success stories or are they failures? Unsatisfying as the
answer may be, they are not yet either. Rather, they are still
unfinished stories. That they are packed with suspense and trag-
edy is already apparent; whether their endings will be happy or
sad cannot be foretold. The same can well be said of the Endan-
gered Species Act itself.
When the act was passed by Congress and signed into law by
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