This adorable chick is one of ten baby condors who has successfully hatched this year as part of Los Angeles Zoo's California condor breeding program, whose goal is to help grow the population of North America's largest land bird. L.A. Zoo states that all of the new chicks are eligible for release into the wild as part of the California Condor Recovery Program (CCRP), which is run by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS) along with local, state, and federal partner agencies, Indigenous tribes, zoos, and NGOs. Denise Verret, CEO and Director of the L.A. Zoo, explains:
"This year's chicks will eventually help increase the genetic diversity of the wild population of condors. This iconic species represents a conservation win for Los Angeles and for California."
If you've never seen a freshly hatched condor, please do yourself a favor and watch the two videos I've included, below. The first one shows a chick, "LA925," who was ready to hatch but who needed a little bit of help. L.A. Zoo condor keeper Rhiann Ogata helped the little one by first creating a tiny hole in the shell to "activate the chick's lungs and kick-start the hatching process." In the video you can see Ogata slowly removing pieces of the shell until the sweet baby is able to break free. The baby condor's little pink almost-naked body is so tiny, and the way it yawns and opens its eyes is so cute. The tiny creature — with its first scraggly feathers — is so adorable, and so patient as its little body gets wiped down. Finally free and clean, the precious baby gets comfortable in a heated incubator to rest after the exhausting process.
The second video shows the same chick, LA925, after a few days of rest and recovery. The chick is cuter than ever, and the zoo reports that the baby bird is "a great eater with a big appetite (just look at that full crop!), gaining strength, becoming less wobbly, sleeping soundly—and yes, even defecating well." The Los Angeles Zoo also reports that soon this chick:
will be paired with another chick in a rearing technique called a "double brood," developed by L.A. Zoo condor keepers. Double brooding is when a pair of adult condors raise two chicks of similar age at the same time. The adults teach the chicks important socialization skills that will help them navigate the complex social hierarchy they'll encounter after release.
Congrats to LA925 for being such a badass cutie, and kudos to the Los Angeles Zoo for facilitating so many successfully condor hatches—and many thanks for everything you're doing to help save the critically endangered condor!
Learn more about the Los Angeles Zoo on their website, and read more about the condor conservation program here and see more photos and videos of the condor chicks here.
Previously:
• Watch: Andean condor reunited with the man who saved it
• A rare California Condor chick just hatched on the internet. Watch it emerge via webcam.
• A ray of hope for the nearly extinct California condor
• California Condor returns to Northern California skies
