Northern California Condor Program Reaches Historic Milestone

A historic milestone has been reached in the skies over Northern California. The Northern California Condor Restoration Program (NCCRP) has now released its 22nd free-flying condor, marking the same number of birds that existed when the species was at its lowest point in the 1980s.

Earlier this week, condor C5—born in May 2024—took her first flights over Yurok ancestral land after being released by biologists. She’s part of the program’s largest release group yet, which includes eight young condors raised at The Peregrine Fund’s World Center for Birds of Prey in Idaho.

“This milestone of an Indigenous-led endeavor, guided by our elders and culture keepers, is simply incredible,” said Yurok Tribe Wildlife Department Director Tiana Williams-Claussen. “It represents a monumental reversal of past hard times for both condors and the Yurok people.”

California condors once soared from British Columbia to Baja, but habitat loss, poaching, and lead poisoning nearly wiped them out. By 1987, all remaining wild condors were brought into captivity to begin a desperate breeding program. Thanks to decades of conservation work, there are now about 400 free-flying condors across North America.

Since 2022, the NCCRP—a partnership between the Yurok Tribe and Redwood National and State Parks—has released a new cohort of birds each year. The program plans to continue annual releases for at least 20 years with the goal of building a self-sustaining population in Northern California and Southern Oregon.

“There’s still a lot to do to bring this world back into balance, but today our hearts sing,” said Williams-Claussen, who revealed C5’s Yurok name: Ruer-o-woo’-moh — “Together We Sing.”

Learn more about the Yurok Tribe’s condor restoration at yuroktribe.org.