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Showing posts with the label Endangered Species

The California Condor - A Success Story

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Marble Canyon On a recent visit to the Grand Canyon, we stopped to see how the California Condors were doing in Marble Canyon.     These birds can have a wing span of 9 ½ feet and weigh up to 26 pounds.   They are BIG and magnificent in flight.   I spotted two on a ledge and watched them take off down the canyon.   I t started to rain as I saw three fly under the bridge below me.   I hung (more than leaning!) over the sides to see if I could get a picture.   The birds hopped from strut to strut keeping dryer that me.   They mate for life, lays a single egg every other year, and can live 60 years.    A wildlife recovery program brought the California Condor back from the brink of extinction. The last time a wild California Condor was spotted in the wild in Arizona was 1925.   By 1982 the total in California and Arizona had dropped to 22 birds.   They were all captured and a captive breeding program was started.   You will notice the numbers on the