Record-Breaking 17 California Condor Chicks Hatched at the L.A. Zoo

August 26, 2024 1:22 PM

Record-Breaking 17 California Condor Chicks Hatched at the LA Zoo This Year. The successful breeding season offers more hope for the endangered species, which has come back from the brink of extinction due to captive breeding efforts. "This is a historic moment for the California Condor Recovery Program and the Los Angeles Zoo’s animal care team," Rose Legato, curator of birds at the LA Zoo, says in the statement. "Our condor team has raised the bar once again in the collaborative effort to save America’s largest flying bird from extinction. What we are seeing now are the benefits of new breeding and rearing techniques developed and implemented by our team."
posted by chariot pulled by cassowaries (8 comments total)

🐣🐣🐣
posted by Lawn Beaver at 2:16 PM on August 26 [2 favorites]

This is awesome news! :)
posted by luckynerd at 3:39 PM on August 26

That's an amazing rebound, from 22 individuals in 1982 to over 500 today.
posted by wanderingmind at 4:40 PM on August 26

Some of the slightly older ones are being released with the Yurok tribe in Northern CA.

I'm waiting to see a condor from Hawk Hill in the Marin Headlands. There were 6 near Mt Diablo last week, so it will happen at some point.
posted by gingerbeer at 8:49 PM on August 26 [3 favorites]

When my students need some hope, I tell them about California condors. It's amazing how many people worked so hard and managed to save a species.
posted by hydropsyche at 3:27 AM on August 27 [4 favorites]

That is great! The first thing I associate with the condors is those hand puppets they used to feed chicks. I'm glad they've been able to retire that.
posted by mersen at 6:22 PM on August 27

Dr. Ian Malcolm, reached for comment, did not have anything to say.
posted by ordinary_magnet at 8:35 PM on August 27

This is awesome. I go to Grand Canyon whenever I can and a number of condors live out there. If you ever happen to be driving in northern Arizona and you get to Navajo Bridge at Marble Canyon, stop there, and walk across the old bridge (they built a new bridge in the late 90s capable of handling modern traffic, the identical looking bridge from the 20s is still there and is now a pedestrian bridge.) I’ve seen several condors hanging out under the bridges. They also release the birds at a site off House Rock Road, between the Kaibab Plateau and the Utah Border. They announce it when they do it; its a long way out there but it would be cool to see.
posted by azpenguin at 5:05 PM on August 28 [2 favorites]