On April 19, 1987, biologists at Bitter Creek National Wildlife Refuge in Kern County, California, captured a California condor referred to in the recovery program as AC-9, the final member of its species flying in the wild. This event initiated a phase in which all 27 remaining condors were kept in captivity at the San Diego Wild Animal Park and the Los Angeles Zoo, as reported by the California Department of Fish and Wildlife. At that time, the skies above the southern Coast Ranges, which had been home to condors since the Pleistocene, were silent.
By the end of 2025, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service’s California Condor Recovery Program recorded a worldwide population of 607, comprising 392 flying freely and 215 in captivity. A species that once occupied just two zoo facilities now has more wild-flying birds than the entire count in 1987—a fourteenfold increase.
The decision to capture the last wild condor was initially contentious. The condor population was rapidly declining by the mid-1980s, necessitating a choice between allowing the few remaining wild birds to perish or capturing them to create a breeding stock for potential restoration. Even with federal protection since 1967 and state protection since 1971, their numbers were ravaged by habitat loss and other threats.
The survival of the condors was aided by the genetic diversity among the 27 captured individuals and their cooperative breeding habits in captivity. The first captive chick hatched in 1988, a year after AC-9’s capture, offering a glimmer of hope for a viable recovery.
Reintroductions commenced in 1992 in central and southern California and extended to Arizona and Baja California. The recovery strategy entails breeding, raising, conditioning, and releasing birds while monitoring their health. In 2025, 46 condors raised in captivity were set free.
By the close of 2025, the 392 wild condors were distributed across various regions: 216 in California, 98 in Arizona and Utah, 53 in Baja California, and 25 in the Pacific Northwest. With two-thirds of the population now in the air, a transformation occurred from zero wild condors in 1987 to nearly 400 by 2025.
Nonetheless, condors remain at risk, with lead poisoning being the foremost danger. From 1992 to 2025, lead was responsible for 50% of identifiable wild fatalities and 28% of all deaths, as the species frequently consumes lead from carcasses shot with lead ammunition. Consequently, field initiatives involve thorough health monitoring and treatment, underscoring the ongoing need for intervention despite the population increase.
By 2025, the species demonstrated its ability to expand from 27 captives to a multi-regional flock, yet maintaining this growth without human assistance remains uncertain. AC-9, captured as the last free-flying condor 38 years prior, became a crucial figure in a narrative of survival and cautious optimism, with 392 of its kind now flying the skies again.