There is little doubt that the California condor is with us today as a result of human management of the species. One critical component of this management has been captive rearing. In the most intensive form of captive rearing, humans take the role of condor parents starting when an egg is laid.
In this post I consider intensive captive rearing from a visual perspective. The photos (and an illustration) below “describe” the hands-on rearing process in a way that words cannot.
As newspapers continue to sell off their collections of photographic prints, I have obtained more of these working documents for my collection. This post presents 10 news photos of California condors in chronological order.
Defenders of Wildlife News and its successor magazine, Defenders, reported regularly on the California condor in the decades prior to 1987, when all the condors were taken into captivity. During the 1980s, Defenders included some notable illustrations and photos.
I especially want to show 2 illustrations from this time period. But while I am at it, here also are a fine map and 2 noteworthy photos.
Continue reading “Illustrations & photos from Defenders: 1980-1986”
Color photos reveal the colorful side – mostly the head and neck – of the California condor.
Continue reading “Color photos from journals & magazines: 1967-1988”
The 12 excellent photos in this post show a California condor being a California condor (one of the photos shows a pair of condors). These photos deserve to be seen, not hidden away on bookshelves or in boxes.
Continue reading “Black & white photos from journals & magazines: 1908-1985”
