California Condor, A Critically Endangered Species, Hatches At The LA Zoo
LOS ANGELES (CBSLA) — The Los Angeles Zoo is celebrating its newest baby – a California condor that hatched Friday morning.
The egg, which had been dubbed #LA1720, began hatching Thursday evening and finally emerged from its shell Friday morning with some help from the zoo's condor keeper, Debbie, who gave the newly hatched chick a thorough exam, then placed it in a warm brooder to be monitored for the next 36 hours.
Zoo officials say the next step for the chick will placing it with parents Sequoia and Squapuni.
According to the zoo, there was once only 22 California condors left on the planet, so this new chick makes for one more.
"It's an incredible emotional experience to, literally, witness these folks saving a species from extinction," the zoo's conservation ambassador, LouAnne, said in an Instagram post.
The California condor is considered to be a critically endangered species after its population was nearly decimated by poaching, lead poisoning and habitat destruction.
