LA Zoo Welcomes 10 Endangered Condor Hatchlings

LOS ANGELES, CA — Ten California condor chicks hatched successfully at the Los Angeles Zoo this breeding season, marking another milestone in the decades-long effort to save North America's largest land bird from extinction, it was announced Wednesday.

The chicks are bred and reared at the zoo as part of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service's California Condor Recovery Program. They're bred to be released in their native, wild habitat as part of a program that seeks to restore the population of the endangered birds.

All 10 chicks are candidates for release into the wild through the program, zoo officials said.

"Our California condor care team continues to make strides in the recovery efforts of North America's largest land bird," Denise M. Verret, zoo director and CEO, said in a statement.

"This year's chicks will eventually help increase the genetic diversity of the wild population of condors. This iconic species represents a conservation win for Los Angeles and for California."

Zoo officials said four of the chicks are being raised through a method known as double brooding, which the L.A. Zoo pioneered in 2017. The technique involves using a surrogate condor pair to raise two chicks at once — until then, no other zoo or California Condor Recovery Program partner had attempted the process.

In 1983 there were only 22 California condors left in the world. By December of last year, that number increased to 561 — with 344 of those living in the wild, the zoo said.

The birds are threatened by habitat loss, pesticide contamination, consumption of micro trash, bird flu and — above all — lead poisoning from eating bullet fragments or shot pellets found in animal carcasses, the zoo said.

"The care and wellbeing that our animal care team provides continues to be innovative and advances the success of the condor program every year," said Misha Body, deputy director of Animal Programs at the zoo. "The L.A. Zoo is dedicated to helping our partners increase the California condor's wild population to not only save them from extinction, but to also continue the hard work towards the ultimate goal of recovery."

Some chicks may be held back for future breeding, but all are considered candidates for eventual release, according to the zoo.

The California condor has a nine-and-a-half foot wingspan. Standing at three-feet tall, the birds weigh 17 to 25 lbs. They can fly at heights of 15,000 feet and travel up to 150 miles a day, the zoo said.

They're like vultures and other scavengers, acting as a "cleaning crew" when they feed on carcasses of large mammals including deer, cattle, whales and seals, according to the zoo.

Though the condor chicks are not on exhibit, guests can see a non- releasable California condor named Hope in the Angela Collier World of Birds Show at noon daily, except Tuesdays.

A daily "California Condor Talk" is also held from 2-2:30 p.m. at the nearby picnic area.

For more information, visit the zoo's website.