Seven California condors were released into the wild in the U.S. state after the endangered animals were hatched and raised at Oregon Zoo.
The birds, which spent time at the zoo’s Jonsson Center for Wildlife Conservation located in rural Clackamas County on Metro-owned open land, flew out of a cage in San Simeon, Calif., last month.
The wild releases were “soft releases,” meaning the birds exit their pens at their own time.
The condors hatched at the center in spring 2022.
With a wingspan of up to nine feet, the California condor is the largest bird in North America and one of the original animals included on the U.S.’ 1973 Endangered Species Act and is classified as critically endangered.
Because of the recovery programs like the Oregon Zoo’s, the world’s California condor population now totals around 500 birds, most of which are flying free.
–Mark Graves/The Oregonian contributed to this report