Once extinct in the wild, the California condor is a survivor of the Ice Age

Nature · Published 3 October 2026 Swipe more like this →

In short: With a wingspan of nearly three metres, the California condor is North America’s largest bird. Once widespread across the continent, these scavengers nearly vanished entirely by the 1980s. Today, they represent a triumph of controversial conservation, having been pulled back from the brink of total extinction through intensive captive breeding efforts.

During the Pleistocene Epoch, which spanned from 2.58 million to 11,700 years ago, various species of Gymnogyps vultures thrived across North America, feeding on the carcasses of megafauna like mammoths and mastodons. As roughly 70% of these large animals went extinct toward the end of the epoch, the condors lost their primary food source. By 1800, the California condor was the only remaining member of its genus, restricted to the westernmost parts of the continent. Their numbers dwindled further in the 19th and 20th centuries due to habitat loss, egg collecting, and the decline of the hide trade, which had previously provided abundant livestock carcasses.

By 1982, only 22 wild California condors remained, prompting the United States Fish and Wildlife Service to launch a desperate, controversial recovery program. In 1987, the capture of the final wild individual, known as AC-9, meant the species was officially extinct in the wild. All remaining birds were moved to zoos and breeding facilities. This hands-on approach faced significant legal and ethical opposition, but it ultimately proved successful. The first captive-bred chick, named Moloko, hatched in San Diego just over a year later, marking the beginning of a long road to recovery.

Reintroduction efforts began in 1992, though early attempts faced setbacks, including deaths from power line collisions and lead poisoning, which remains a severe threat today. Conservationists have since refined their techniques, including clever breeding strategies like removing a first egg to encourage parents to lay a second. Today, there are about 275 free-flying birds across California, Utah, Arizona, and Baja California, with over 160 more in captivity. These birds, which can live for over 60 years, are a testament to the extreme measures required to preserve a species that once soared over a vastly different North American landscape.

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