Three Decades of the Condor
The San Diego Zoo is a lead partner in the efforts to save the California condor. In 1982, 22 birds remained in the wild. At that time, the San Diego Zoo was given permission to begin the first zoological propagation program for California condors. The program also involved the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, California Department of Fish and Game, the National Audubon Society, and the Los Angeles Zoo. Thanks to the conservation breeding program, within 25 years the population of California condors grew to more than 300 birds.
It took a variety of techniques developed by scientists and bird keepers to do this. Eggs were removed from condor nests, encouraging the females to lay replacement eggs. This is called “double clutching.” The removed eggs were placed in incubators for hatching.
To reduce imprinting on humans, the hand-raised condors are fed and cared for using adult look-alike condor puppets. Taped sounds are played to the chicks as well during the hatching process. In the wild, both parents incubate the egg and care for the chick, and they may only raise one chick every other year. Using the double clutching method, we can raise up to four chicks in a two-year period.
In 1992, the first captive-bred condors were reintroduced into the wild in California. As of July 31, 2009, there are 356, including 180 birds currently living in the wild.
However, reintroduction is not the end of the story. Appreciation and protection of the condors’ wild habitat is crucial for their ongoing survival. This is not always an easy task. Game animals that are legally shot by hunters sometimes get left behind. California condors, which are scavengers by nature, often feed on these carcasses and unintentionally eat the lead fragments from the bullets. These fragments can lead to serious illness or even death for the condor. Recently, a law was passed in California that prohibits the use of lead bullets in areas where condors live.
The San Diego Zoo continues its efforts to help the California condor.
