American Notes CALIFORNIA

"Adult Condor No. 9," as California scientists had designated the last known free-flying condor in the state, hovered over a goat carcass last week in the Bitter Creek National Wildlife Refuge, 40 miles southwest of Bakersfield. Sweeping down on its 9 1/2-ft. wingspan, it settled in for breakfast. But the seven-year-old male bird, which had eluded pursuers for seven months, had at last fallen into a trap. Captors hidden nearby set off small explosives that launched a "cannon net" over the condor, and A.C. 9 was grounded for what wildlife experts say is his own good. The bird was endangered by his civilized surroundings: first by Indians who sought feathers, later by poison traps and lead from bullets in dead animals. A.C. 9, one of only 27 condors in North America, was placed in another of civilization's trappings, the San Diego Wild Animal Park, where it might mate with 13 female condors there and at the Los Angeles Zoo.