Santa Barbara Zoo - Condors Condor Country

Meet the Santa Barbara Zoo Condors

  1. This bird hatched at the Peregrine Fund's World Center for Birds of Prey (Boise, Idaho) on April 11, 2004, and was hand raised. At age eight months, she was transferred to the Vermilion Cliffs condor release site in northern Arizona. After she was released and recaptured twice between January 2005 and June 2009. The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service's Condor Recovery Program decided that she be placed in Santa Barbara because she had several close interactions with humans. These interactions could result in undesirable human-oriented behavior in the future and put the bird at risk of injury, of ingesting something harmful (like microtrash), and of taking those dangerous behaviors back to the rest of the wild flock. She arrived in Santa Barbara in January 2010 and went on exhibit after a 30-day quarantine in mid-February. She will eventually enter the Captive Breeding Program.
  2. A male condor who hatched on April 12, 2007, at the Center for Birds of Prey (Boise), this bird was raised by its parents. He arrived in Santa Barbara in March 2009 to take up residence in the new Condor Country exhibit. He is, as are all the Santa Barbara Zoo’s birds, the direct descendent of the small group of the last wild flying condors in California. After #432's great-great-grandparent, #10 (known as AC3), died of lead poisoning, the decision was made to bring in all the remaining wild condors from the wild in January 1986. #432's grandparents were all hatched in captivity and hand-raised, with the exception of #5 (known as AC6). Number 5 has been incredibly productive and sired (fathered) more than 20 eggs; he still lives at the Los Angeles Zoo. #432's parents were both hatched at the Los Angeles Zoo, where they were hand-raised. They have lived at the Center for Birds of Prey (Boise) since 1997 and have produced an amazing ten eggs. Some chicks have been hand-raised, others were raised by condor foster parents, and they have raised two, including #432.
  3. This female condor was hatched on April 12, 2007, at the Center for Birds of Prey (Boise), where she was raised by condor foster parents. #433 arrived in Santa Barbara in March 2009 to take up residence in the new Condor Country exhibit. She is, as are all the Santa Barbara Zoo’s birds, the direct descendent of the small group of the last wild flying condors in California. After her great-great-grandparent, #10 (known as AC3), died of lead poisoning, the decision was made to bring in all the remaining wild condors from the wild in January 1986. #433's grandparents were all born in captivity and hand-raised, except for #2. Number two was a wild male condor who was never captured, but many of his eggs with his wild mate #11 (known as Tama) were taken by researchers to be hatched and raised by hand. #433's dam (mother) was born at the Los Angeles Zoo; her sire (father) was born at the San Diego Wild Animal Park. In September 1993, they were in the first group of condors to be transferred to the breeding facility at the Center for Birds of Prey (Boise), where they have produced an amazing 12 eggs. Some chicks have been hand-raised, others raised by #433's parents, and a few have been raised by condor foster parents, including #433.
  4. A male condor who hatched on April 22, 2007, at the Center for Birds of Prey (Boise), #439 was raised by his parents. #439 arrived in Santa Barbara in March 2009 to take up residence in the new Condor Country exhibit. He is, as are all the Santa Barbara Zoo’s birds, the direct descendent of the small group of the last wild flying condors in California. After his great-great-grandparent, #10 (known as AC3), died of lead poisoning, the decision was made to bring in all the remaining wild condors from the wild in January 1986. Two of #439's grandparents were born in captivity and hand-raised; one was a wild bird who had been captured for the Recovery Program; and another was captured as a chick in a wild nest to become the first member of the captive breeding program. #439's parents were both born at the San Diego Wild Animal Park and hand-raised. They have both lived at the breeding facility at the Center for Birds of Prey (Boise) since 1997, where they have produced seven eggs. Some chicks have been hand-raised, others were raised by condor foster parents and they have raised two, including #439.
  5. This female condor hatched on April 24, 2007, at the Center for Birds of Prey (Boise), where she was raised by her parents. #440 arrived in Santa Barbara in March 2009 to take up residence in the new Condor Country exhibit. #440 is, as are all the Santa Barbara Zoo’s birds, the direct descendent of the small group of the last wild flying condors in California. Her great-great-great-grandparents, #2 and #11 (known as Tama) produced the last egg hatched in the wild – her great-great-grandparent, #21 (known as AC8). All the other great-grandparents and two of the grandparents were also born in the wild, but either died in the wild or were brought into captivity as part of the Recovery Program. #440's parents were both born at the San Diego Wild Animal Park and hand-raised. They have both lived at the breeding facility at the Center for Birds of Prey (Boise) since September 1997, where they have produced five eggs. Two chicks were raised by condor foster parents and three were raised by them, including #440.