The California Condor narrowly dodged extinction in the 1980s thanks to conservation efforts involving Andean Condors reintroduced to Peru’s Illescas peninsula.
The Illescas wilderness will soon be officially protected as Illescas National Reserve, a development which spurred Enrique Ortiz, Senior Program Director at the Andes Amazon Fund, to recount the story of how Andean Condors helped save the California Condor.
The Spanish version of this piece originally appeared on Mongabay-Latam.
This post is a commentary. The views expressed are those of the author, not necessarily Mongabay.
A few years ago, alone on the top of a mountain in Zion National Park, in Utah, USA, I had an almost mystical experience that immediately transported me to the Illescas Peninsula, in Piura, Peru. Out of nowhere, a California Condor appeared with a number written on a plastic plate attached to its wing, perching a few feet from me. It was an extraordinary event because, one, it is a very rare species which “miraculously” was saved from extinction. And two, was that back in the early 1980’s, Illescas and I were directly involved with its survival mission. It was as if that condor had come to greet me … and whisper something in my ear.
