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California Condors
Until a new captive-breeding release program began in 1992, the last
California Condor known to live in the wild was captured in 1987. It was known
as "AC-9" and was captured in the foothills of Kern County. The bird
was commonly known as "The Los Angeles County bird" because it was
born on a cliff-side near Saugus in 1980. He was ironically also one of the
first Condors tagged and tracked by California wildlife researchers. The Condor
was taken to live at the San Diego Wild Animal Park. The capture was considered
necessary in order to protect the sole free-flying California Condor. At one
time, Condors made northwestern Los Angeles County one of their habitat areas.
In addition to parts of L.A. County, the Condor ranged from the southeastern
portions of Monterey and San Benito counties down through parts of Fresno,
Kings, Tulare, San Luis Obispo, Kern, Santa Barbara, and Ventura counties. In
1992, after a successful captive-breeding program, Condors began being released
to the wild in California. By June 2003, 82 California Condors were living in
the wild--20 in Southern California. The
Los Angeles Zoo houses 34 Condors in
captivity.
Condor Fact Page
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