Welcome to the Oregon Zoo's Condor Recovery Program

The California Condor Recovery Programis built upon an essential foundation of private and public partnerships. The recovery goal for the condor is to establish a captive population of 150 birds and two separate wild populations of condors, one in California and the other in Arizona. California Condor captive breeding programs are operated at San Diego Wild Animal Park, Los Angeles Zoo, and The Peregrine Fund’s World Center for Birds of Prey. Release programs in California are managed by the Ventana Wilderness Society, and Hopper Mountain National Wildlife Refuge, and in Arizona The Peregrine Fund. Primarily, the funding for the program comes from the private sector with support from the federal government. Coordination and implementation of the recovery program and oversight of all program partners is done by the US Fish and Wildlife Service and the California Condor Recovery Team.

The California Condor Recovery Team is an advisory group to the US Fish and Wildlife Service, providing technical expertise and a scientific foundation for the program. The group includes scientists with a broad range of expertise from captive propagation and releasing avian species in the wild to environmental contaminants.As the focal point for the program, the team assists partners in sharing ideas and developing new approaches for management of captive and free-flying California condors.

As the original wild population was brought into captivity, captive condor flocks were established at San Diego Wild Animal Park and Los Angeles Zoo. The first successful captive breeding occurred in 1988. In 1992, the US Fish and Wildlife Service began the reintroduction of condors back into the wild near Hopper Mountain National Wildlife Refuge in southern California. The nonprofit Peregrine Fund’s World Center for Birds of Prey, Boise Idaho, started captive breeding in 1993. A second release program began in 1996 in northern Arizona operated by the Peregrine Fund. In January 1997, releases along California’s central coast were initiated. The Ventana Wilderness Society manages this condor flock, supported by private grants and donations.

Summary of California Condor Numbers:
Captive Facilities
San Diego Wild Animal Park	39
Los Angeles Zoo	36
World Center for Birds of Prey	51
Total Captive Condors	126
Free-flying Condors
California’s central coast	18
Southern California	14
Arizona	25
Total Free-Flying Condors	57
Total	183

For a copy of the California Condor Recovery Plan, please contact:

Fish and Wildlife Reference Service
5430 Grosvenor Lane, Suite 110
Bethesda, Maryland 20814

Phone: (301) 492-3421 or 1-800-582-3421