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Endangered species of the month

California Condor

Gymnogyps californianus (Shaw, 1797)

Some facts about this species:

Description: Gymnogyps californianus is a New World vulture. It's the largest of all North American land birds, with a 3.0 m (9.8 ft) wingspan and a weight of up to 12 kg (26 lb).

Habitat: The condors live in rocky shrubland, coniferous forests, and oak savannas. Individual birds have a huge range and have been known to travel up to 250 km (160 mi) in search of carrion.

Distribution: After becoming extinct in the wild in 1987 the California Condor have since been reintroduced to Northern Arizona and southern Utah (including the Grand Canyon area and Zion National Park), the coastal mountains of central and southern California, and northern Baja California.

Threats: This species is mainly threatened by humans and urban development in the form of poaching and habitat destruction, with the biggest threat being lead poisoning caused by accidental ingestion of fragments from bullets in carrion.

Surviving number: In 2010 there were 106 adults in the wild old enough to breed, of which 44 had ever produced viable offspring. An intensive conservation programme involving reintroduction and release of captive-bred birds has since led to a very small but increasing population of this species in the wild. However, the population in the wild remains dependent on intensive conservation management efforts.

Conservation status: Critically Endangered (IUCN 3.1), assessed August 7, 2018.

First described: As Vultur californianus by the British zoologist and botanist George Shaw, 1797, in The Naturalist's Miscellany, or coloured figures of natural objects; drawn and described from nature 9 pl. 301, text.