The huge birds nest on rocky cliffs and forage in open grasslands and oak savannahs, feeding on carrion. By 1987, only 27 California condors remained, due to illegal shootings, poisoning, and habitat loss. The last survivors were brought into captivity, and the first captive-bred chick hatched the following year. Some of the first captive-bred condors released into the wild fell victim to powerlines and antifreeze puddles, but biologists now train them before release to avoid such hazards. Hopes of achieving self-sustaining populations of wild condors were buoyed in 1997 when scientists observed signs of mating behavior in the released birds, which will reach maturity at six or seven years of age.
Further releases are in the works for both California and Arizona.