Denver – A rare Andean condor has hatched at the Denver Zoo, becoming only the second such bird to hatch at a zoo anywhere in the world in the past year, zoo officials said Thursday.
The Denver condor, a male, hatched May 13, joining a condor born in Sydney, Denver Zoo spokeswoman Amy Sarno said. The chick, which does not yet have a name, and his parents, Evita and Andy, are the zoo’s only condors, she said.
When the Denver chick matures, it will either be taken to another zoo for breeding – most likely in Europe or South America – or it may be considered for a program in Colombia that releases the birds into the wild, Sarno said.
The chick weighed only one-half pound when it was born but has already grown to nearly 5 pounds. A mature condor has a wingspan of 11 feet and stands about 4 feet tall.
They generally grow to about 30 pounds and can live up to 50 years.
Both parents incubated the egg and cared for the newborn, the zoo said. Both will likely care for the chick during its first year or two of life.
Andean condors are an endangered species and came close to extinction in the 1970s, the zoo said. There are estimated to be only a few thousand of the giant birds in the wild, while 74 live in captivity in North America.
Condors are native to the Andes Mountains in western South America. They are a national symbol for Argentina, Bolivia, Chile, Colombia, Ecuador and Peru.
