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40 years ago, the fate of the California condor was uncertain.
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Lead poisoning and habitat loss had decimated their numbers.
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In 1987, they were officially declared extinct in the wild, but against all odds and 11th hour plan was literally hatched to save them.
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The US Fish and Wildlife Service has initiated a condor recovery program to breed the remaining California condors in captivity.
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The last 22 California condors on Earth were captured from these parents.
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Baby Condor chicks were painstakingly raised by conservation scientists and eventually released back into the wild.
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Today, there are approximately 500 condors soaring the skies of California.
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I'm here where it all began at the San Diego Zoo Safari Park.
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Now, California condors are still critically endangered and the work continues.
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So I'll be teaming up with lead wildlife care specialist Ron Webb.
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He's going to show me the ropes.
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So this is our hatching trailer, and there's movement inside this.
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Is that the chicks?
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Yeah, that's the beak right there.
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California condor chicks will actually fledge or leave the nest at about 150 days, five months or so out in the wild.
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Kids are with mom and dad for about a year and a half, about 18 months.
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Good luck, little one.
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See you on the other side.
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So what is all this?
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Yes, cameras.
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And then also the the pen cameras.
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So we're spying on the condors, but for their own.
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It's rude, but it's for their benefit.
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Yeah.
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So there's a chick in this one.
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Oh, wow.
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This bird's name is Ewu.
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24 days old.
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Wow.
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So that's the first, our first chick to hatch this year.
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And it's doing what baby animals do, so much of which is sleeping.
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Lots of sleeping, lots of growing.
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Yeah, after being raised for a year and a half in human care, these young condors will be released into the wild.
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A network of California agencies collaborate to prepare each new generation for their big day.
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Peter went to the other end of California, 800 miles north, to see this incredible work for himself.
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A young condor has a lot to learn.
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Social development is a critical step in their fight for survival.
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Chris West and Tiana Williams have trained and released captive bred condors since 2008.
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Initially we were releasing birds at pretty young ages.
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Fledging age seemed a reasonable age to put condors out there.
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But what we weren't thinking of was that a condor that fledges out of a nest still hangs around with its parents for like a year and a half.
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They are parents who contribute very heavily to the well-being and health of their child, both male and female.
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They recognize the important role of being a parent, of being a good parent, and what that means for the future of not only their offspring, but of the flock.
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The birds that we're releasing don't have the benefit of following their parents around.
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So the captive rearing facilities not only are breeding condors, but they're also acting as nursery schools for these birds.
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They can immediately socialize and integrate with the wild flying birds.
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Those birds can help them learn how to be a condor.
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Today, Chris and Tiana are set to release a juvenile female Condor identified by number a zero.
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The first step is to find a zero, another condor to emulate.
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So Chris and I set out to track 2 previously released birds, identified by numbers A2 and A3.
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If one of them is nearby, we can attract it to the pen with a delicious animal carcass.
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We're hoping to be able to release a 0 into a two and a three being at the carcass feeding, which would make her much more likely to head out.
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I think.
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We have no idea if that's how it's going to work out.
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Not only does a 0 need a friend by her side, but weather conditions need to be just right as well.
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When they're released into the wild.
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They still don't know how to fly.
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They've never had that experience.
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If she got up above the Ridge and she doesn't know how to fly yet and got caught by a gust, that would be really detrimental to her.
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We want to put her out when conditions are ideal to make it as softer release as possible to give her the best chance.
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If wind conditions are too strong, 80 zero could be pushed to the ground outside the fence line and unable to get back in.
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She was ready to go out today but the forecast was for highwind.
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Doesn't seem super windy.
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So no, all we need now is a wild condor.
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And right on cue, Chris picks up a signal from a radio caller.
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So this right here is bird A3 and A2 is hanging out with a three, so pretty similar.
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So that's up over our right shoulder here.
