The longtime head of the California condor recovery program, Chris Parish, has been named as the new president and CEO of the Peregrine Fund.
Parish began his career with the conservation organization in 2000 and helped bring back the endangered California condors from the brink of extinction in northern Arizona and southern Utah. He was also among the founders of the North American Non-lead Partnership that advocates for hunters to use non-lead bullets that can poison and kill condors and harm the environment.
Parish succeeds Rick Watson who worked for the Peregrine Fund for three decades.
The group was founded in 1970 to help restore the peregrine falcon, which was removed from the Endangered Species List in 1999. It has since expanded its efforts in raptor conservation to more than 100 species in 65 countries.
In the 1980s, the worldwide population of California condors were reduced to just 22. More than 100 of the critically endagered birds now live in the Grand Canyon area. Still, according to the Peregrine Fund, more than half of all condor deaths are due to lead poisoning.
