A  condor chick hatched on March 22, 2001, that had a special claim to fame: he was the Zoological Society of San Diego’s 100th California condor to hatch! In 19 years, the Wild Animal Park and Avian Propagation Center teams had made a tremendous contribution to the survival of this native species, which some had once thought was beyond hope of saving. Not only were the condors reproducing in zoos and breeding centers, they had also been successfully reintroduced to the wild. This 100th chick also became part of the reintroduced population, when he went to the Hopper Mountain National Wildlife Refuge release site in 2002. As the other condors had before him, he spent some time in an acclimation pen with “mentor” condors, adults that could demonstrate and reinforce proper condor social behavior. Then the door was opened for him and his fellow “graduates” from that year, and off they soared into the California skies.