Zoo welcomes first California condor eggs of 2025

Condor recovery efforts are off to promising start at zoo’s wildlife conservation center

The first two California condor eggs of 2025 arrived at the Oregon Zoo’s Jonsson Center for Wildlife Conservation this week, and keepers hope to see a lot more over the coming months.

The first egg of the season arrived Jan. 26 to condors No. 492 and 432. This is the pair’s sixth year together, and they’ve successfully raised four chicks. The parents are taking turns incubating their newest egg, and if all goes well, it should hatch in mid-March. 

“They are two of our ‘early birds,’” said Kelli Walker, the zoo’s senior condor keeper. “Egg-laying season runs for another couple of months, but they’ve had an egg in January for five years in a row now.” 

The second egg arrived Jan. 27 to experienced condor mom Malibu (No. 43) and dad Maluk (No. 55). Fourteen condor pairs are currently living at the conservation center, Walker added, and every parent has raised at least one chick before.

“Last year, we had a record number of hatches, and we’re looking forward to another successful season,” Walker said. “There are only about 560 California condors on the planet, so each egg is important.”

Once hatched, the chicks stay with their parents for at least eight months before moving to pre-release pens for about a year. Eventually, they travel to a wild release site to join free-flying condors in California and Arizona. 

“The first condor to hatch at our conservation center turned 20 last year,” Walker said. “He lives in Pinnacles National Park now, and it’s exciting to think some of this year’s chicks could be joining him there in a couple years.”

The California condor was one of the original animals included on the 1973 Endangered Species Act and is classified as critically endangered. In 1982, only 22 individuals remained in the wild and by 1987, the last condors were brought into human care in an attempt to save the species from extinction. Thanks to recovery programs like the Oregon Zoo’s, the world’s California condor population now totals around 560 birds, most of which are flying free.

The Oregon Zoo’s condor recovery efforts take place at the Jonsson Center for Wildlife Conservation, located in rural Clackamas County on Metro-owned open land. The remoteness of the facility minimizes the exposure of young condors to people, increasing the chances for captive-hatched birds to survive and breed in the wild. 

More than 120 chicks have hatched at the Jonsson Center since 2003, and nearly 100 Oregon Zoo-reared birds have gone out to field pens for release. Several eggs laid by Oregon Zoo condors have been placed in wild nests to hatch.

As part of Metro, the Oregon Zoo helps make greater Portland a great place to call home. Committed to conservation, the zoo acts globally on behalf of species from pikas to polar bears. Over the past 30 years, it has prevented extinctions, expanded populations, advanced conservation science and formed powerful communities to protect wildlife in the Northwest and around the world. 

Upgrades and new equipment at the Jonsson Center have been made possible through continued support from the Avangrid Foundation and donations to the Oregon Zoo Foundation, which supports the zoo’s efforts in advancing animal well-being, species recovery work and conservation education. To contribute, go to oregonzoo.org/give.