They’re the “spirit of the Andes,” says Luis Jácome, director of the PCCA. To many, the loss of the condor-and its slow resurgence-is personal and emotional. Now, for the first time in 170 years, the Andean condor can be seen coast to coast in Argentina. Local oral histories and historical references, such as Charles Darwin’s notes from his time there, have helped conservationists reconstruct that range. Right: Kurruf is one of 64 condors the program has released along Patagonia’s Atlantic coast as part of an effort to reestablish the Andean condor’s 19th century range. In doing so, the group has reestablished Andean condors along the Atlantic coast of southern Patagonia. In that time, the program has rescued at least 370 condors-more than five percent of the species’ overall population-and has hatched and released 80 condor chicks. The Andean Condor Conservation Program (PCCA) has been leading that effort in Argentina for three decades. But scientists, conservationists, and Indigenous communities are helping the iconic bird make a comeback. Deliberate hunting and poaching are rare, but still happens.Ĭlassified as vulnerable to extinction by the International Union for the Conservation of Nature (IUCN), only about 6,700 adult condors remain in the wild today. Some agricultural communities leave out poison bait to kill predators that prey on their livestock, a practice that also kills condors indirectly. Lead bullets, buried in carcasses abandoned by hunters, slowly poison the scavengers’ blood. Wind turbines and power lines can stop condors mid-flight. The illustrious vulture, however, hasn’t been able to withstand human encroachment. It’s the national bird of at least four countries. With a wingspan of 10 feet and a life span of 50 years, the bird has long been revered among Indigenous Andean cultures as a symbol of power and immortality. The Andean condor, a massive South American cousin of the California condor, once soared along the full length and breadth of the Andes and beyond. The world’s largest bird of prey is in trouble, and locals are working to save it.
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