Oregon Zoo-Hatched Condors Fly Free At Vermillion Cliffs [View all]

Oct 9, 2025

Two California condors hatched and raised at the Oregon Zoo’s Jonsson Center for Wildlife Conservation are soaring through the open skies of Arizona this month, marking another important step in the effort to save this critically endangered species from extinction.

Condors No. 1254 and No. 1260 — who hatched at the Jonsson Center last year — lifted off at Vermilion Cliffs National Monument on Sept. 27, joining a growing population of free-flying condors living among the area’s sandstone buttes and colorful rock formations. A total of five zoo-reared California condors took flight that day in a release hosted by the Peregrine Fund and the Bureau of Land Management to celebrate National Public Lands Day.

Condor No. 1254, shown here, was the first chick to hatch at the Jonsson Center in 2024.

Flight footage courtesy of the Peregrine Fund.