California Condors Small Print Fabric bytursiart

This design was created for the 'Comback Species' design challenge. I chose one of my all time favorite animals: The California Condor, which has one of the best comeback stories of all endangered animals! California Condors are one of the largest birds in the world with a wingspan of nearly 10 feet. Their numbers dramatically declined in the 20th century due to poaching, habitat destruction, and lead poisoning. By 1987 only 27 remained. They were all captured and brought into captivity to establish a breeding program to try and save the species. I remember watching a documentary about them on the nature channel in the late 80s, videos of the handlers raising baby chicks using puppets, and being totally captivated. At that time, we lived in New York so where these condors lived seemed like a far away exotic place. Just a short time later, my dad's job would change and we would end up moving to Southern California. When I heard the news, I remember one of my first thoughts was that we were moving to the place with the giant condors!! Not long after, I got to see these wonderful birds in real life at the San Diego Wild Animal Park (now Safari Park) where the breeding program was taking place. Today, there are 518 California Condors, and they have been successfully introduced back into the wild. While they are still considered critically endangered, they are no longer on the verge of extinction. I hope you enjoy this design as much as I enjoyed creating it.