This is not a sight that is often seen, a California Condor in the wild. And in fact this one is NOT in the wild. I captured this guy at the San Diego Zoo Safari Park, but the background was not real exciting - basically the screen that contains the birds. So I edited it in Photoshop, using an image I took last summer for the background. Trust me, it's better.
Roughly 19 years ago, there were only 22 in the entire world. They were going extinct due to a variety of causes, including lead poisoning, DDT, poaching and habitat reduction. They were all captured and brought to this park and the Los Angeles zoo in an effort to save the species. They were successfully bred and in 1991 the first one was reintroduced to the wild. More have been released to the wild since then, all are tracked, and now between the wild and in captivity there are still only 425. They are still one of the world's rarest birds.
Wonderful capture of this rare bird! Interesting narrative Ron! Great processing - very clever putting that background in. I must learn how to do that. F!
Not the prettiest of birds but a nice shot and a great story Ron. Maybe you could have used that background for my sun baking butcher bird. That would have been a hoot..
@onewing Thanks Babs. As I understand it this bird would not survive long in the wild as he was raised with too much human presence. But they do a very good job of keeping people away from those they do put back in the wild. It's very interesting to see the "puppets" they use to feed the babies. They look very much like a real mama bird!
@888rachel Oh it's real alright. The background is real too, but in a much different location. You cannot believe the size of these birds. The wingspan can measure two meters!
