The Secretariat of the Environment and Sustainable Development (SMADS) of Baja California received 4 young condor birds from Chapultepec zoo in Mexico City, so as to prioritize the conservation of this species in the country.

The head of SMADS, Mónica Vega announced that these birds will developing their adult lives at the San Pedro Mártir National Park where there is a natural reserve where no human can enter, which is where they will be liberated.

For her part, Baja California Governor Marina del Pilar Ávila Olmeda said that these birds will be kept at the aviary prior to their liberation where they will begin the adaptation process so that they can be freed in August.

“I recognize the great work done by CONANP, the Government of the City of Mexico, and the Secretariat of the Environment of Baja California. In our state we prioritize the recovery and conservation of species,” the governor stated.

In Baja California, there has been an effort to conserve the condor. In 2022, there were only 6 specimens left and in the 20 years since, the condor population in Baja California has risen to 46 birds. This is a result of specialized and constant assistance that involves activities such as complementary lead-free diets, detox of birds that have consumed lead, rescuing them from fires, capturing specimens to follow up on them clinically and vaccinate them, constant monitoring of the wild population with telemetry equipment, among many other things.

It should be noted that the four specimens were examined in order to clear them off diseases such as bird flu, Newcastle disease, and salmonella.

This species was considered extinct in Mexico since 1939, but in 1999, through agreements with the California Condor Recovery team of USFWS and the then-named SEMARNAP, Mexico joined forces in order to recover this species, so as to widen the recovery range of the California Condor. Specifically, San Pedro Mártir National Park was part of this species’ original range.