San Diego Zoo Safari Park Celebrates Milestone With 200th Condor Released Into Wild – Patch

San Diego Zoo Safari Park Celebrates Milestone With 200th Condor Released Into Wild  Patch

The milestone marks more than four decades of efforts to bring the endangered California condor back from the brink of extinction. SAN DIEGO, CA — The San Diego Zoo Safari Park has reached a major conservation milestone, with 200 California condors bred at the park now released into the wild, San Diego Zoo Wildlife Alliance announced Monday. The milestone comes after seven young condors were released in Yurok Country along the California-Oregon border. The birds will join 26 condors already living in the wild at the site. The release was part of the Northern California Condor Restoration Program, a partnership between the Yurok Tribe and Redwood National and State Parks.

It marked the first time condors bred at the Safari Park have been released at the site, where the first birds were reintroduced in 2022. The location is the newest of six established California condor release sites. San Diego Zoo Wildlife Alliance began breeding California condors in 1982 as part of efforts to save the endangered species from extinction. Since then, 291 California condors have hatched at the Safari Park, including the 200 released into the wild. Today, more than 600 California condors are alive, with more than half living in the wild, according to the wildlife alliance.