LA Zoo Condor Turns 60, Saved His Species

A California condor at the Los Angeles Zoo turned 60 this month after helping rebuild a species that once fell to 22 birds. (lazoo.org) The bird, Topa Topa, was found in Ventura County in early 1967 weak, malnourished and weighing 17 pounds. After 10 days of rehabilitation, he was released, then brought back to the zoo when observers saw he could not forage or defend himself alone. (lazoo.org) Federal officials listed the California condor as endangered in 1967, the same year Topa Topa arrived. In 1978, he became the first California condor shown to the public at the Los Angeles Zoo as agencies tried to raise awareness of the bird’s decline. (fws.gov) (lazoo.org) By 1982, only 22 condors remained in the wild, and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and its partners began capturing the remaining birds for a captive-breeding effort. The Los Angeles Zoo and San Diego Zoo became key breeding partners in that emergency program. (fws.gov) (nbclosangeles.com) Topa Topa later became one of the founders of the breeding population in human care. The zoo says his lineage now includes about 300 birds, with roughly 100 still in the recovery program and 94 flying free in the wild. (lazoo.org) His first chicks hatched in 1993, and he still lives behind the scenes at the zoo’s California Condor Recovery Center. Zoo officials said this week that he continues to contribute to breeding efforts at age 60. (nbclosangeles.com) (ktla.com) The larger recovery effort has kept growing. A U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service status report published on February 25, 2026 counted 607 California condors worldwide at the end of 2025, including 392 in the wild and 215 in captivity. (fws.gov) The federal recovery program says captive breeding, releases and field monitoring remain necessary because the species is not yet self-sustaining across its historic range. The agency’s recovery plan calls for at least two separate wild populations with 150 birds and 15 breeding pairs each, plus a third captive population. (fws.gov) Condors are still hit by lead poisoning and disease, even as more birds return to the sky. That leaves Topa Topa, rescued as a failing fledgling in 1967, as both a survivor and a living piece of the recovery program he helped build. (nbclosangeles.com) (fws.gov)