An awesome 10 foot wing span! The California condor is one of the world's rarest bird species: as of June 2014 there are 439 condors living wild or in captivity. The California condor became extinct in the wild in 1987 (all remaining wild individuals were captured), but the species has been reintroduced to northern Arizona and southern Utah (including the Grand Canyon area and Zion National Park), the coastal mountains of central and southern California, and northern Baja California. Condor numbers dramatically declined in the 20th century due to poaching, lead poisoning, and habitat destruction. A conservation plan was put in place by the United States government that led to the capture of all 22 remaining wild condors in 1987. These surviving birds were bred at the Los Angeles Zoo and the San Diego Zoo Safari Park. Numbers rose through captive breeding and, beginning in 1991, condors were reintroduced into the wild.

California Condorcondor