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Prehistory
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A healthy population of California condors ranged throughout the coastal regions of North America from British Columbia to Baja California, east to Florida and north to New York. |
| 1602 |
First recorded sighting of a California Condor by a European, Father Antonio de la Ascension, in Monterey Bay, California. The condor served as a deity figure in Native American cultures. |
| 1805 |
On October 28, Lewis and Clark reported a sighting of a condor, referring to it as a "Vulture of the Columbia", near the junction of the Wind River and the Columbia River in present-day Washington State. The next day, they shot one for a closer look. |
| 1806 |
On February 16, members of the Lewis and Clark Expedition brought the leaders a live condor whereupon they performed an extensive visual examination of the bird. |
| 1827 |
A large group of California condors was seen near Fort Vancouver feasting upon the carcasses of horses killed in a storm. |
| 1904 |
The last reliable sighting of a California condor occurred in Drain, Oregon. |
| 1939 |
National Audubon Society researcher Carl B. Koford began intensive field studies of the California Condor providing some of the first authoritative information about the species He estimated 60 to 100 condors remained in the wild. |
| 1967 |
The California condor is included in the first Federal list of U.S. Endangered Species. |
| 1975 |
California Condor Recovery Team established and the recovery plan adopted. |
| 1979 |
U.S. Congress approved first special designation to expedite California Condor Recovery Plan. Field survey program launched. |
| 1982 |
Only 21 birds remained in the wild. |
| 1987 |
The 17 remaining free-flying condors were taken into captivity. |
| 1988 |
First successful breeding among California Condors occurred at the San Diego Zoo. |
| 1992 |
Two California Condors were reintroduced into the wild accompanied by two Andean condors. |
| 1996 |
On June 15, the 100th chick born in captivity hatched at the L.A. Zoo. |
| 1999 |
Several older birds observed feeding on a sea lion carcass in an isolated cove along the Big Sur coastline. This was the first documentation of condors foraging on marine mammals along the Big Sur coast in more than 100 years. |
| 2001 |
Oregon Zoo joins the California Condor Recovery Program as the fourth captive breeding partner. |
| 2003 |
Construction of Oregon Zoo's off-site condor facility begins. Condors slated to arrive in Fall. |
