This is the story of the California Condor, a species that was once on the brink of extinction. In the late 1980s, only 22 wild condors remained in the world. Through the hard work of conservationists, the species has made a remarkable comeback.
The California condor is a New World vulture and the largest North American land bird. It became extinct in the wild in 1987 when all remaining wild individuals were captured, but has since been reintroduced to northern Arizona and southern Utah, the coastal mountains of California, and northern Baja California in Mexico. It is the only surviving member of the genus Gymnogyps, although four extinct members of the genus are also known. The species is listed by IUCN as critically endangered, and similarly considered Critically Imperiled by NatureServe.