First fluffy condor chick of 2020 hatches at the Oregon Zoo, more on the way
Click here for updates on this story
Portland (KPTV) — The Oregon Zoo welcomed its first fluffy condor chick of the year at the Jonsson Center for Wildlife Conservation this week.
The zoo says condors have been laying eggs at the Jonsson Center since late January.
“Each new egg is critical to the California condor’s comeback,” said Kelli Walker, the zoo’s lead condor keeper. “With only about 500 of these endangered birds in the world, every chick counts.”
Only one egg has hatched so far, but the zoo says more are expected to arrive in the coming weeks.
“The new chick is sitting up and making plenty of noise already, which is an excellent sign,” said Walker. “Mom is being really attentive, and they’re both doing great.”
According to the zoo, both condor parents will tend to a newly-hatched chick, but the newest chick is being raised by a single mom.
“We can occasionally have single birds raise a chick, which we’re able to support because of the consistent close food supply at our conservation center,” Walker said. “A single adult can feed and be back in the nest room before the chick gets cold.”
The chicks will stay with their parents for at least eight months before moving to the Jonsson Center’s pre-release pens for about a year and a half.
The chicks will then travel to a wild release site to join free-flying condors in California, Arizona or Baja Mexico.
The California condor was included on the Endangered Species Act back in 1973 and is classified as critically endangered.
The zoo says there were only 22 birds in the wild in 1982, and by 1987, the last condors were brought into human care in an attempt to save the species from extinction.
The zoo says thanks to breeding programs like theirs, condor numbers now total more than 517 birds. Most of those birds of flying free.
Please note: This content carries a strict local market embargo. If you share the same market as the contributor of this article, you may not use it on any platform.
