A New Chapter on the Redwood Coast
The San Diego Zoo Safari Park has introduced its 200th California condor into native habitats. The milestone bird is among seven young condors now soaring over Yurok Country as part of the Northern California Condor Restoration Program, a partnership between the Yurok Tribe and Redwood National and State Parks. Yurok Country is the newest of six established California condor recovery sites, and the first condors were introduced there in 2022.
200 Safari Park–hatched condors introduced into native habitats · 291 hatched to date · 600+ thriving today, more than half soaring in native habitats
This introduction is a first in its own right. It is the first time condors hatched at the Safari Park have been introduced at the Yurok Country site. The young birds join 26 California condors already soaring there, helping a new population take hold in a part of the species’ historic range where condors had been missing for generations.
Counting up from 200
Every number in this story represents years of patient, hands-on care. To date, 291 California condors have hatched at the Safari Park. Of those, 200 have now been introduced into native habitats: soaring for miles, scanning the landscape, and finding their place among established populations.
Those birds are part of a much bigger picture. Today, more than 600 California condors are thriving, and more than half of them are soaring in native habitats.
To date, 291 California condors have hatched at the Safari Park. Of those, 200 have now been introduced into native habitats
Where It All Began
That recovery story stretches back more than four decades. In 1982, San Diego Zoo Wildlife Alliance launched the first zoological recovery program for California condors. At the time, the species was perilously close to extinction with only 22 left on Earth.
The recovery and breeding programs pioneered by our teams in those early years became critical to the species’ recovery. They helped turn a last-ditch rescue effort into a growing population that now spans multiple recovery sites, across our Southwest Conservation Hub, now including the redwood coast.
Yurok Country is the newest of six established California condor recovery sites, and the first condors were introduced there in 2022.
Wings over the Horizon
Reaching 200 is a moment to celebrate, but it is not a finish line. Each young condor introduced into native habitats carries the work of many hands: wildlife care experts, veterinarians, conservation scientists, and collaborative partners who share a vision of condors thriving across their ancestral skies.
As these seven birds settle into their new home in Yurok Country, they add their wings to a recovery that once seemed impossible. And somewhere up there, Condor No. 200 is just getting started.
Be part of the story: Visit the San Diego Zoo and San Diego Zoo Safari Park to experience California condors up close, or become a San Diego Zoo Wildlife Alliance member or donor to help support condor recovery and wildlife conservation around the world.
