Fish and Wildlife Service began an initiative to breed the condors in captivity with help from the San Diego Wild Animal Park and Los Angeles Zoo.Ĭondors typically mate for life and lay one egg roughly every year or so, so scientists knew that in order to bring the population back to sustainable numbers they would need to streamline the process. In 1967 after the condors’ numbers had fallen into the double digits, the condor was placed on the federal endangered species list and scientists banded together to try and help solve the problem of the condor’s dwindling population. California condor at the Grand Canyon (Photo: Scott Young) Saving the Condor Population The condor, which had once roamed across a large portion of North America, was nearly extinct. The population dwindled and near the end of the 1930s it was reported that no condors lived outside of California. Like vultures, condors are scavengers that feed on carrion when they dined on animals shot with lead bullets, the birds ingested the toxic lead, too. After that, condor numbers plunged because of hunting, poisoning, habitat loss, and especially lead poisoning. But populations remained steady on the West Coast, from British Columbia to Mexico, until European settlers moved in. Condor flying in the Grand Canyon (Photo: Depositphotos)Ĭondors used to soar over most of the Lower 48 states until about 10,000 years ago, when their numbers dropped dramatically right around the time that mastodons and saber-tooth cats went extinct. Today, the world population stands at 500 condors, if you include those living in captivity, and more than half of them are living wild in California, Utah, Arizona and Baja California, as of 2022. Fish and Wildlife Service and several partner zoos, a captive breeding and reintroduction program pulled the magnificent birds back from the edge of extinction. In fact, in 1982, only 22 condors remained in the world. Not so long ago, there weren’t any condors at the Grand Canyon. That might sound small, but the number represents a smashing success. And that makes you very lucky indeed, because the condor is one of the rarest birds in the world.Ībout 92 condors inhabited the skies of northern Arizona and Utah in 2019. Look closer: bald red head, wide wingspan, triangular white patches under the wings – it’s a California condor. If you’re lucky, you might spot a huge black shape riding the thermals over the canyon. ![]() Stand on any South Rim overlook and turn your eyes to the sky.
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