California Condor
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'''Habitat:''' North America; Currently found in southern California, in Baja California, and at the Grand Canyon in Arizona. Five hundred years ago, the California Condor roamed across the American Southwest and West Coast. The condors live in rocky scrubland, coniferous forests, and oak savannas. They are often found near cliffs or large trees. | '''Habitat:''' North America; Currently found in southern California, in Baja California, and at the Grand Canyon in Arizona. Five hundred years ago, the California Condor roamed across the American Southwest and West Coast. The condors live in rocky scrubland, coniferous forests, and oak savannas. They are often found near cliffs or large trees. | ||
| - | '''Status:''' Critically endangered. Condor numbers dramatically declined in the 19th century due to poaching, lead poisoning, and habitat destruction. Eventually, a conservation plan was put in place by the United States government that led to the capture of all the remaining wild condors in 1987. These 22 birds were bred at the San Diego Wild Animal Park and the Los Angeles Zoo. Numbers rose through captive breeding and, beginning in 1991, condors have been reintroduced into the wild. The project is the most expensive species conservation project ever undertaken in the United States. The California Condor is one of the world's rarest bird species. In August 2008, there were 332 condors known to be living, including 156 in the wild. | + | '''Status:''' Critically endangered. '''Global Population:''' <350. Condor numbers dramatically declined in the 19th century due to poaching, lead poisoning, and habitat destruction. Eventually, a conservation plan was put in place by the United States government that led to the capture of all the remaining wild condors in 1987. These 22 birds were bred at the San Diego Wild Animal Park and the Los Angeles Zoo. Numbers rose through captive breeding and, beginning in 1991, condors have been reintroduced into the wild. The project is the most expensive species conservation project ever undertaken in the United States. The California Condor is one of the world's rarest bird species. In August 2008, there were 332 condors known to be living, including 156 in the wild. |
'''Diet:''' Large, terrestrial mammalian carcasses such as deer, goats, sheep, donkeys, horses, pigs, mountain lions, bears, or cattle. Alternatively, they may feed on the bodies of smaller mammals, such as rabbits or coyotes, aquatic mammals such as whales and sea lions, or salmon. Bird and reptile carcasses are rarely eaten. Wild condors inhabit large territories, often traveling 250 kilometers (150 mi) a day in search of carrion. It is thought that in the early days of its existence as a species, the California Condor lived off of the carcasses of the "megafauna", which are now extinct in North America. | '''Diet:''' Large, terrestrial mammalian carcasses such as deer, goats, sheep, donkeys, horses, pigs, mountain lions, bears, or cattle. Alternatively, they may feed on the bodies of smaller mammals, such as rabbits or coyotes, aquatic mammals such as whales and sea lions, or salmon. Bird and reptile carcasses are rarely eaten. Wild condors inhabit large territories, often traveling 250 kilometers (150 mi) a day in search of carrion. It is thought that in the early days of its existence as a species, the California Condor lived off of the carcasses of the "megafauna", which are now extinct in North America. | ||
