WOCC Participates in Andean Condor Release

December, 2010 - In December, the largest bird of the Americas took flight aboard a plane bound from Miami to Bogotá, Colombia in a project organized by White Oak Conservation Center.

Two juvenile Andean condors spread their 10-foot wing span and soared as part of a successful international collaborative program that has been reintroducing this endangered species for two decades.

One bird hatched at the San Diego Zoo Safari Park, the other at the Denver Zoo. The pair was being prepared for their release into the wild while at WOCC. After their arrival in Colombia, the birds will spend a short period in an acclimation aviary before their release into a wilderness area 50 miles northeast of Bogota.

"For the past two years the two condors have been living in a large flight enclosure, receiving natural prey, and were isolated from contact with people, all important factors in creating excellent candidates for the release program in South America," said Mike Taylor, avian collection manager at WOCC.

Conservation Centers play an important role in reintroduction projects providing socially and physically conditioned animals as excellent release candidates.
This species of vulture is found throughout the Andes Mountains from Colombia to Tierra del Fuego, Argentina. Primarily, the Andean condor lives in high mountainous regions and open grasslands and feeds on carrion.

The Andean condor is threatened in its northern range and has become rare in Venezuela and Colombia. These two countries developed the reintroduction program with AZA institutions to release captive-bred birds from North American conservation organizations back to the wild.