California condor

New World vulture

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
Temporal range: 2.5–0 Ma
Early PleistoceneHolocene
At San Diego Zoo, USA
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Aves
Order: Accipitriformes
Family: Cathartidae
Genus: Gymnogyps
Species:
G. californianus
Binomial name
Gymnogyps californianus
(Shaw, 1797)
Synonyms

Genus-level:

  • Antillovultur Arredondo, 1971
  • Pseudogryphus Ridgway, 1874

Species-level:

  • Vultur californianus Shaw, 1797

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.

References

change
  1. BirdLife International (2013). "Gymnogyps californianus". IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. Version 2013.2. International Union for Conservation of Nature. Retrieved 26 November 2013.