A condor chick hatches at Pinnacles.

Condor 828 has made history.

For the first time in over a century, a California condor chick took flight from a nest in Pinnacles National Park. “It’s exciting to cross this milestone,” says Rachel Wolstenholme, the park’s condor program manager.

California condors have historically nested within the boundaries of the park, but until recently, the last documented nest in Pinnacles dates back to the 1890s. In 2006, the Ventana Wildlife Society – a conservation nonprofit focused on condor recovery – began reintroducing condors to the park in 2006, and the first nest in the area for over 100 years was discovered in 2010.

Condor chicks have hatched in the park since, but either didn’t survive long enough to take flight, or were rescued due to concerns over their health – usually lead poisoning caused by carcasses shot with lead ammunition.

“The fact this chick survived, without lead poisoning or other factors, is very encouraging,” VWS Executive Director Kelly Sorenson says.

California condors, a critically endangered species, hit their historic population low in 1982, when there were just 22 left in the world. By 1987, the number climbed to 27, all of which were in captivity. Now, Sorenson says, there are more than 400 condors – both in captivity and in the wild – almost 90 of which are flying.

Both Wolstenholme and Sorenson credit the recovery to hunters and ranchers using non-lead bullets, and see Condor 828’s survival as a positive sign for the species’ recovery. “I like to give credit to hunters as the original conservationists,” Wolstenholme says.

Sorenson expects non-lead ammunition to become even more widely available in the coming years, as AB 711 will ban lead ammunition in the state starting July 1, 2019.

The key to ongoing recovery, Sorenson says, is to have wild condor birth rates exceed mortality rates, a threshold that has not been reached. But he is hopeful: “We’re on the right trajectory,” he says.