California condor
The California condor (Gymnogyps californianus), is a New World vulture, the largest North American land bird. It became extinct in the wild in 1987 (all remaining wild individuals were captured), but has been reintroduced to northern Arizona and southern Utah (including the Grand Canyon area and Zion National Park), the coastal mountains of central and southern California, and northern Baja California. It is the only surviving member of its genus.
California condor | |
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At San Diego Zoo, USA | |
Conservation status | |
Scientific classification | |
Kingdom: | Animalia |
Phylum: | Chordata |
Order: | Accipitriformes |
Family: | Cathartidae |
Genus: | Gymnogyps |
Species: | G. californianus
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Binomial name | |
Gymnogyps californianus (Shaw, 1797)
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Synonyms | |
Genus-level:
Species-level:
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In 1970 there were only a few dozen left. In 1987 there were only 10 left. Currently there are 400 individuals, with about 200 left in the wild and the others in captive breeding.
California Condor Media
Frederick Polydore Nodder's illustration accompanying George Shaw's 1797 species description
Fossil of the extinct species Gymnogyps amplus from the La Brea Tar Pits
California oak savanna on the east flank of Sonoma Mountain
An adult with a 30-day-old chick in a cave nest near the Hopper Mountain National Wildlife Refuge, California, U.S.
A juvenile in the Grand Canyon, with its numbered tag prominent.
References
- ↑ "Gymnogyps californianus". IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. Version 2013.2. International Union for Conservation of Nature. 2013. Retrieved 26 November 2013.