Seventeen California condor chicks hatched at the Los Angeles Zoo in the 2024 breeding season, breaking the record of 15 set in 1997, zoo officials announced Wednesday.
The final chick of the season hatched in June and is thriving, according to the zoo. Each one will be a candidate for release back into the wild as part of the California Condor Recovery Program, administered by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service.
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"This is a historic moment for the California Condor Recovery Program and the Los Angeles Zoo's animal care team," Rose Legato, the zoo's curator of birds, said in a statement.
"Our condor team has raised the bar once again in the collaborative effort to save America's largest flying bird from extinction," the statement continued.
Legato cited new breeding and rearing techniques that led to the record-breaking number of chicks. Zoo staff put two or three condor chicks together with a single adult surrogate condor to be raised, resulting in more chicks in the program and ultimately more birds to be released into the wild.
The new technique was pioneered in 2017: Until then, no other zoo or California Condor Recovery Program partner had attempted the process.
The LA Zoo has housed California condors since 1967, when Topa Topa came to the zoo as a malnourished fledgling rescued in the wild. In 1983, there were only 22 of these birds remaining on the planet, so the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and the California Fish and Game Commission agreed to create a captive breeding program for the species, which the LA Zoo entered as a founding partner.
"It is the cornerstone of the zoo's mission to save wildlife and an important example of a successful conservation partnership between zoos, government agencies, indigenous peoples and private organizations," LA Zoo Director and CEO Denise Verret said in a statement. "We are proud to be able to make such a significant contribution to the preservation of nature."
As of December 2023, there were 561 California condors in the world, of which 344 are living in the wild. The number fluctuates daily due to outside influences such as habitat loss and pesticide contamination.
The California condor is the largest land bird in North America with wings spanning an amazing nine-and-a-half feet. Adult condors stand at around three feet and weigh 17 to 25 pounds.
The species can soar to heights of 15,000 feet and may travel up to 150 miles a day.
LA Zoo visitors can view the birds daily, except Tuesday, in the Condor Spotting area and learn about them from staff members from 12:30-1 p.m. at the picnic area next to the Angela Collier World of Birds Show Theater. Guests can also see Hope, a non-releasable California condor, at the Angela Collier World of Birds Show at noon daily, except Tuesday, weather permitting.
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