LA Zoo celebrates Topa Topa, a 60-year-old California condor helping stave off extinction
Topa Topa is the first California condor to have lived in a zoo setting, and in honor of Earth Month, the Los Angeles Zoo is recognizing the 60-year-old vulture as a conservation icon.
The elderly land bird is a founding member of the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service's California Condor Recovery Program – and he's certainly helped the population. Topa Topa has contributed to the production of roughly 300 birds over his lifetime, with 94 flying free in the wild and another 100 in the recovery program as mentors or breeding condors.
"He represents so much more than a species; he is a symbol of the California condor's experience from decline to triumph," Denise Verret, L.A. Zoo CEO and Zoo Director, said.
In 1967, Topa Topa was rescued from the Ventura County mountains as a one-year-old, weak and malnourished. After 10 days of rehabilitation at the L.A. Zoo, he was returned to the wild. He was quickly returned to the zoo after field observations found there were no adult condors near him, and he was unable to fend for himself. USFWS returned him to the L.A. Zoo permanently for his own survival.
In the 1970s, only a few dozen condors remained in the wild. In 1978, Topa Topa once again made history by being the first California condor to be exhibited to the public, raising awareness of the endangered species.
In the mid-1980s, all of the remaining condors were captured and taken to zoos to stop their population decline in the wild.
Topa Topa moved behind the scenes to work on repopulation, and in 1993, he sired his first two chicks to be released in the wild.
"It took many years to prepare Topa Topa to become a breeding bird in this recovery program, but the outcome was far more exciting than initially expected as he would soon become the program's biggest asset." Dominick Dorsa II, Director of Animal Care, L.A. Zoo, said.
The California condor is the largest land bird in North America, with a wingspan reaching nearly 10 feet. The species is classified as Critically Endangered by the International Union for Conservation of Nature.
While the total California condor population has grown to more than 600 birds, severe threats remain to their survival. According to the L.A. Zoo, the condors' high mortality rate is mostly due to lead poisoning from eating lead bullet fragments or shot pellets found in animal carcasses. In recent years, the Highly Pathogenic Avian Influenza (HPAI) has become another growing threat to the species' survival.
