Once Sisquoc, seen here, hatched at the San Diego Zoo's Avian Propagation Center, he was taken to the Wild Animal Park and raised at the Condorminium. Because the long-term goal was reintroduction, it was important to keep the condor chicks from imprinting on humans—but how could they feed the chicks without letting them see people? Enter the now-famous condor puppet! The keepers worked with a local artist to create a lifelike hand puppet with condor features, which could feed and interact with the chicks like a parent condor would. The keepers remained behind a black curtain or other obstacle so that the chicks only interacted with the puppet. This technique was actually first tried by bird keeper Bill Toone when he hand-raised two Andean condors in 1981, with great results.

On March 30, 1983, the first California condor egg that had ever been in a zoo began to hatch. Everyone was excited but anxious as well—this chick, later named Sisquoc after the conservation area where his egg was collected, was more precious than gold. Keepers played tape recordings of vulture sounds and they tapped on the egg as condor parents would. Zoologist Cyndi Kuehler helped the chick break out of the shell, gingerly removing eggshell pieces to help him emerge. Then she heard him squawk—and she knew he was going to be okay. She recalled that, “I wish I could say I felt happy and exhilarated—but what I really think I felt was relief. I knew we were going to be able to hatch condors.”

Another triumph: A second California condor chick, also brought to the Zoo's Avian Propagation Center by helicopter a few days after Sisquoc, hatched on April 5, 1983. Seen here carefully held by zoologist Cyndi Kuehler just after he hatched, he was named Tecuya, after the Tecuya Ridge in the condor habitat where his egg was collected.

A Condor Hatches

When the first California condor egg started to hatch at the Avian Propagation Center on March 30, 1983, the tension was palpable. When Sisquoc emerged healthy and strong, so was the relief—and the exhilaration. The California Condor Recovery Program had its first chick!

📷 Back to Timeline

1983

Conservation 1977 - 1986

© 2024 San Diego Zoo Global Site by Mindgruve