Somewhere in California, a small miracle is taking place. It is projected that by year’s end, the California condor population will reach 200 birds in captivity and another 200thriving and reproducing in the wild.

This is big news when you consider how far they have come. Twenty five years ago, the last wild California condor was captured and added to the population of 26 captive individuals.

The California condor was once found throughout the southwestern United States. As with many endangered and extinct animals, these birds fell to human pressures including habitat changes and human predation. The last straw was the introduction of the pesticide DDT.  This chemical caused the Condor eggshells to become so thin that they would break long before the chick could hatch. To a species that was already struggling to survive, the inability to add to future generations was a staggering blow.

Thanks to concerned scientists, naturalists and nature lovers, these birds have beenbrought back. It is a testament to what can be done to save a species when we work together.

But we can’t sit on our laurels. It is estimated that there are over 16,000 endangered plant and animal species worldwide and many more that are threatened.
This month in the Nature Exchange at the Chattahoochee Nature Center, you are invited to learn more about endangered and threatened species from Georgia and around the world. Learn about measures being taken to preserve Georgia’s population of Bog Turtles and the possible rediscovery of the Ivory Billed Woodpecker. Cheer on migrating songbirds as they pass through on Migratory Bird Day. Take a close look at rarely seen biofacts from our endangered species collection.

For more information about Endangered Species Month in the Nature Exchange, please visit our website chattnaturecenter.org/nature-exchange.html.

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