LA Zoo Condor Turns 60, Saves Species

A California condor at the Los Angeles Zoo has reached age 60, making Topa Topa the oldest known bird of his species and a living link to the condor’s rescue from near-extinction. (lazoo.org) The zoo said Topa Topa arrived in April 1966 as a malnourished chick from Sespe Condor Sanctuary in Ventura County, months before the zoo opened at its current Griffith Park site on November 28, 1966. He became the first California condor to live in a zoo. (lazoo.org, lazoo.org) Topa Topa later joined the United States Fish and Wildlife Service’s California Condor Recovery Program, which moved the species into captive breeding after the wild population collapsed. Fish and Wildlife said condors were listed as endangered in 1967, only 23 remained in the wild by 1982, and every remaining wild bird was brought into care in 1987. (lazoo.org, fws.gov) That breeding effort now spans zoos, wildlife agencies, tribes and field crews across the West and in Mexico. The Los Angeles Zoo says the program has lifted the condor population from 27 captive birds in 1987 to more than 500 birds, with about 300 introduced back into the wild since releases began in 1992. (lazoo.org, fws.gov) The numbers are still fragile. A Fish and Wildlife population report for 2025 counted 215 condors in captivity, showing the species still depends on managed breeding centers including the Los Angeles Zoo. (fws.gov) Topa Topa never became a breeder himself, but the zoo said his long life helped scientists and keepers build husbandry knowledge about a species that can live for decades and lay eggs slowly. California condors are the largest land birds in North America, with wingspans up to 9.5 feet and weights up to 25 pounds. (lazoo.org, fws.gov) The Los Angeles Zoo is still adding birds to the recovery pipeline. In July 2024, it announced a record 17 condor chicks hatched in one season, beating its previous high of 15 set in 1997, and said all 17 would be candidates for release. (lazoo.org) The bird’s milestone arrives as the zoo marks six decades of its own history and keeps a species once written off in the wild on the landscape. At 60, Topa Topa is now both exhibit animal and archive — a survivor from the year the modern Los Angeles Zoo began. (lazoo.org, lazoo.org)