San Diego Zoo Wildlife Alliance releases 200th captive-bred California condor into the wild

The milestone reflects the ongoing population recovery of North America's largest land bird, growing from fewer than two dozen individuals in the early 1980s to over 600 today across six release sites in the state.

• •The San Diego Zoo Wildlife Alliance released its 200th captive-bred California condor into the wild.
• •A total of seven young condors were recently released in the far northwest corner of California.
• •The alliance's condor propagation program began in 1982 at the San Diego Zoo Safari Park.
• •Since the program's inception, 291 condors have hatched at the Safari Park, with 200 released into natural habitats across the state.
• •The recent release is a collaborative project between the Yurok Tribe and Redwood National and State Parks known as the Northern California Condor Restoration Program.
• •The release site in northwest California hosts 26 condors and is one of six established release sites across the state.
• •This event marks the first time condors bred at the Safari Park were released in that specific area of northern California, which received its first condors in 2022.
• •The California condor is North America's largest land bird, featuring a wingspan exceeding nine feet.
• •The wild condor population has recovered from fewer than two dozen birds in the early 1980s to over 600 today.