Condors have long been a symbol of pristine, remote wilderness and conservation. Their status and decline has recently been the focus of intensive research and often heated debates.

The nearly-extinct condors began to decline when large mammals, such as mammoths, disappeared during the Ice Ages thousands of years ago. These large animals provided abundant food for the massive condors and other large scavengers. However, scientists believe that the following factors led to the accelerated demise of the species:

• poisoning from sources such as lead bullets in carcasses left by hunters,
• being shot for a variety of reasons,
• eggshell thinning from DDT (a harmful pesticide that birds accidentally ate with their food).
• major, ongoing changes in the habitats of southern and central California.

The last of the nearly-extinct birds was taken into captivity in 1987. It joined the 26 remaining condors in a captive breeding program at the San Diego and Los Angeles Zoos. With the help of scientists, condors in captivity may be able to reproduce over four times faster than in the wild. By 1998, the captive condor population had increased to over 100. Scientists have begun to release the captive-bred birds into the wild in California and Arizona.

The fossilized remains of a closely related species, the extinct La Brea Condor (Breagyps clarki), has been discovered in the Rancho La Brea Tar Pits. The extinct La Brea Condor was slightly smaller than the living but endangered California Condor and had a longer, more slender beak.

Classroom Activities: Wingspan Endangered Species