In 1987, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service captured 27 wild California condors to save them from extinction. 32 years later, the recovery program hatched its 1,000th chick, marking one of North America’s greatest wildlife recoveries

California condors faced extinction with only twenty-seven birds remaining. Conservationists captured all remaining birds for a successful breeding program. Releases began in nineteen ninety-one, rebuilding the wild population. By two thousand nineteen, the program celebrated its thousandth chick hatching.