California Condor Recovery
Did you know the California condor, once on the brink of complete extinction throughout the West, is making a comeback? Recently, our newest intern Meagan Johnson had the rare opportunity to visit the Oregon Zoo’s Jonsson Center for Wilderness Conservation California condor breeding facility.
In 1987 California condors were near extinction in California, and the decision was made to bring in the remaining 22 birds from the wild with the goal of breeding them in captivity, something which had never been tried before. Luckily, these amazing birds took to captive breeding quite well, and thanks to the Oregon Zoo’s off-site breeding facility, and similar sites in California, 416 California condors exist today, the majority of which have been released back into the wild.
Read more: http://www.oregonzoo.org/node/357/media
(via: U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service - NW Region)
