A program led by the U.S.
Fish and Wildlife Service is working hard to save the California condors, which are the largest land birds in North America and were on the brink of extinction in the 1980s with only about two dozen known to be left in the wild.
The last known California condor in the wild was captured in 1987 and put into a captive breeding program to save the species.
Today, thanks to the California Condor Recovery Program, there are more than 500 condors worldwide, with about half living in the wild.
However, some of the same problems that led to their demise in the 1980s, such as lead poisoning from hunters’ ammunition, are still threatening them.
The hope is that efforts like a new California law banning hunters from using lead, combined with other techniques like artificial incubation, will allow the California condor population to soar on its own.
