Zion National Park Reports First Condor To Leave The Nest
Oct 1, 2019, 8:28 AM | Updated: 10:27 am
California condor chick at Zion National Park has grown big enough to leave the nest, officials said. (Photo: Jason Pietrzak, NPS)
(Photo: Jason Pietrzak, NPS)
SALT LAKE CITY (AP) — Zion National Park officials say an endangered California condor chick has left the nest and grown wings large enough to fly for the first time in park history.
The southern Utah park said in a social media post last week that a group of visitors saw the baby condor stretch its wings and leave the nest on Sept. 25. Park biologists later confirmed the sighting.
The 4½-month-old chick is Zion’s first successful hatchling. At least two chicks have been born at the park, but they have died before they were old enough to fly.
Park rangers have nicknamed the chick “1K” as its birth marked 1,000 condors hatched as part of a population recovery program.
California condors are making a comeback in the wild three decades after nearing the brink of extinction.
The California condor chick at Zion has fledged! When a young bird grows big enough to leave the nest, they have…
Posted by Zion National Park on Thursday, September 26, 2019
