Word: condor
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When Lewis and Clark first sighted one in 1805, California condors soared freely from the Baja Peninsula to the Pacific Northwest. Until last month, just 27 of the orange-pated scavengers survived, all of them in the protected aviaries of the San Diego Wild Animal Park and the Los Angeles Zoo. Then on April 29 at 5:38 p.m., there were 28. Named Molloko, the Maidu Indian word for "condor," an ungainly chick, 6.75 oz., pecked its way out of its shell to become the newest member of the embattled clan -- and the first California condor ever conceived in captivity...
From the start, like hovering matchmakers, zoo officials tried to anticipate their charges' libidinal needs. Molloko's parents lived for three years in a "condorminium" measuring 40 ft. by 80 ft. by 22 ft. high -- enough room for condor courtship. Since human contact might distract the big birds, staff members observed them from a blind. Says David Rimlinger, manager of the San Diego park's bird department: "They had plenty of privacy, and the enclosure was big enough for them to get away from each other if they wanted...
...efforts by tapping the shell with a thin wire rod. The percussive duet lasted 52 hours, until a hole the size of a quarter had formed. A few hours later, the team carefully removed the remaining fragments and Molloko emerged. By week's end bird handlers were using a condor puppet to preen the rambunctious youngster and feed it 70 minced baby mice, or "pinkies," daily...
Even so, the condor is not back into the woods yet. Little has been done to rectify the environmental hazards that imperiled it. "Breeding in captivity was the easy part," says William Toone, curator of birds at the San Diego park. "The hard part is doing something to control the poisons and getting rid of the lead." Only then do biologists foresee a successful return of zoo- bred California condors, perhaps even Molloko's offspring, to their native home...
...documents. "I know exactly where everything is -- unless somebody moves the paper. Then there'll be a crisis." Somehow Icahn's operation remains efficient despite the increasingly complicated latticework of his investments. Icahn raises money through an array of partnerships bearing such names as Aero Limited, Crane, Pelican and Condor. He changes the titles frequently so that his competitors cannot easily follow his activities in the market. To play, new investors must kick in a minimum of $100 million. But as Icahn told TIME, "No matter how much money they give me to invest, I won't let them look...