That may not seem like a big number, but it represents a big step back from the brink of extinction. In 1987, the condor population was down to just 22 wild birds. In a last-ditch effort to save the species, scientists captured all the condors, and placed them in a captive breeding facility. Female condors usually lay a singleegg in the wild. But scientists found that if they took that egg away to hatch in an incubator, female condors would lay a second egg.
Today there are more than a hundred California condors at three captive breeding facilities.
And scientists have been releasing condors back into the wild. Recently, scientists have spotted condors both in Arizona and at Los Padres performing courtship behaviors. So, with a bit of luck, in the next few years, the condors may go beyond the success of the captive breeding program, by breeding on their own, in the wild. We're Block and Byrd for Earth and Sky.