But its population plummeted in the 20th century due to lead poisoning, hunting and habitat destruction. In , wildlife officials captured the last remaining 22 condors and took them to the San Diego and Los Angeles zoos to be protected and bred in captivity. Those efforts have led to a slow but steady recovery for a species that reproduces slowly compared with other birds. There are now roughly condors, including about in the wild in California, Arizona, Utah and northeastern Mexico.
Plans also are underway to release some captive-bred condors in Redwood National Park in to establish a population near the California-Oregon border. Federal officials said in August that for the first time in nearly 40 years, condors were roosting in the Blue Ridge National Wildlife Refuge, expanding to their historical range in the southern Sierra Nevada. While condors still face threats from exposure to mercury and the pesticide DDT, biologists say the biggest danger is lead ammunition, which can poison the scavengers when they eat dead animals shot with lead bullets.
Common Name: California condors. Scientific Name: Gymnogyps californianus. Type: Birds. Diet: Carnivore. Size: Body, 3. Weight: 18 to 31 pounds. Size relative to a 6-ft man:. Critically endangered. Least Concern Extinct. Current Population Trend: Increasing. This photo was submitted to Your Shot, our photo community on Instagram. Follow us on Instagram at natgeoyourshot or visit us at natgeo.
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Since , when the U. Currently, there are about California condors flying free in Central and Southern California, nearly 80 in Arizona and Utah, and more than 30 in Baja, Mexico. By , the Recovery Program reached an important milestone: for the first time since the program began, more California condors were flying free in the wild than in captivity.
Beginning in , the California Condor Recovery Program has been reporting condor population information. This information provides detailed accounts of how many California condors are located in the wild and captivity, as well as their geographic location, among other information. We often receive questions regarding the names or ID's of California condors. In the California Condor Recovery Program, each condor is assigned a name or identification number - the "studbook number.
Four condors await their medical evaluation in the flight pen at Hopper Mountain National Wildlife Refuge. Those familiar with condors know that some condors have a name like AC-7 or AC These were some of the field identifications used in the 's to study and monitor individual condors in the early years of the recovery program. The AC in those names stands for Adult Condor and the number indicates the order in which each bird received identification.
For example, AC-7 means "Adult Condor 7", the seventh condor to be given wing tags and a radio transmitter. The only exception to this loose rule is Tama-Yawut. Tama was a wild condor in the 's that was known by a name instead of an AC designation. But regardless of whether a condor is known by a name or a number at any particular breeding facility or release site, all condors are given a studbook number.
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