#so sweet!!!!

[runawaycarouselhorse]

garden-variety-snail: #I saw one of the captive pairs in Pittsburgh#the first year I went the couple had just lost a chick & was having trouble producing another#the keepers told me the female bird had been depressed#and she was staying very still in the back of her enclosure#the next year I went they had successfully hatched a chick#I watched the mother bird gamboling around her enclosure and stealing sticks from gardeners#she seemed so happy#I love these birds so much

;___;

On April 19th, 1987, a bird known as Adult Condor 9 was captured in the Bitter Creek National Wildlife Refuge, near Bakersfield, California. After decades ravaged by the threats of lead-poisoning and pesticide exposure, and intense debate over the ethics of captivity, it had been determined that captive breeding was the final hope to save a species. As his designation might suggest, AC-9 was the nine condor to be captured for the new program; he was also the last.

As the biology team transported the seven-year-old male to the safety of the San Diego Wild America Park, his species, the California Condor, North America's largest bird, became extinct in its native range. It was Easter Sunday—a fitting day for the start of a resurrection.

At the time of AC-9's capture, the total world population of California condors constituted just twenty-seven birds. The majority of them represented ongoing conservation attempts: immature birds, taken from the wild as nestlings and eggs to be captive-reared in safety, with the intention of re-release into the wild. Now, efforts turned fully towards the hope of captive breeding.

Captive breeding is never a sure-fire bet, especially for sensitive, slow-reproducing species like the condor. Animals can and do go extinct even when all individuals are successfully shielded from peril and provided with ideal breeding conditions. Persistence in captivity is not the solution to habitat destruction and extirpation—but it can buy valuable time for a species that needs it.

Thankfully, for the California condor, it paid off.

The birds defied expectations, with an egg successfully hatched at the San Diego Zoo the very next year. Unlike many other birds of prey, which may produce clutches of up to 5 hatchlings, the California condor raises a single chick per breeding season, providing care for the first full year of its life, and, as a consequence, often not nesting at all in the year following the birth of a chick. This, combined with the bird's slow maturation (taking six to eight years to start breeding), presented a significant challenge. However, biologists were able to exploit another quirk of the bird's breeding cycle: its ability to double-clutch.

Raising a single offspring per year is a massive risk in a world full of threats, and the California condor's biology has provided it with a back-up plan: in years when a chick or egg has been lost, condors will often re-nest with a second egg. To take advantage of this tendency, eggs were selectively removed from birds in the captive breeding program, which would then lay a replacement, greatly increasing their reproduction rate.

And what of the eggs that were taken? The tendency of hatchlings to imprint is well-known, and the intention from the very beginning was for the birds to one day return to the wild—an impossibility for animals acclimated to humans. And so, puppets were made in the realistic likeness of adult condors, and used by members of the conservation team to feed and nurture the young birds, mitigating the risk of imprintation on the wrong species.

By 1992, the captive population had more than doubled, to 64 birds. That year, after an absence of five years, the first two captive-bred condors were released into their ancestral home. Many other releases followed, including the return of AC-9 himself in 2002. Thanks to the efforts of zoos and conservationists, as of 2024 there are 561 living California condors, over half of which fly free in the wilds of the American West.

The fight to save the California condor is far from over. The species is still listed as critically endangered. Lead poisoning (from ingesting shot/bullets from abandoned carcasses) remains the primary source of mortality for the species, with tagged birds tested and treated whenever possible. Baby condors are fed bone chips by their parents, likely as a calcium supplement—but, to a condor, bits of bone and bits of plastic can be indistinguishable, and dead nestlings have been found with stomachs full of trash.

There's hope, though. There are things we can change, things we can counteract and stop from happening in the future. It was a human hand that created this problem, and it will take a human hand to fix it. Hope is only gone when the last animal breathes its last breath—and the California condor is still here.

-

This painting is titled Puppet Rearing (California Condor), and is part of my series Conservation Pieces, which focuses on the efforts and techniques used to save critically endangered birds from extinction. It is traditional gouache, on 22x30" paper.

[whirliko]

I really love the clear effort you put into your cc! Stuff like the MCR lettering being simlish on the emo shirt is an awesome detail. It's clear you really put effort and care into your cc and it looks great in game, too. I hope you have a wonderful day!!

omggg thank you so much anon, you've made my day 😭😭🩷 i really appreciate you taking time out of ur day to send me such a sweet message 🧸💝 !!! i hope you have a lovely day as well!!

[marlenesluv]

★ put this star into the inbox of your favorite blogs. It's time to spread positivity 🤍

awwww stoppp, thank you so much🥹🩵

[sailermoon]

patrons that ask me about my classes and how schools going

[seiwas]

hi just wanted to say thank u for ur reblogs and tags on my fics!! i’m so glad u enjoy them!!! have a great day <33

this is so sweet!! :">> i love the way u write my fave hq boys!!!! thank you so much for all ur hard work!!!! <33

[macdenlover]

it came to my realization that 99% of my fandom related headaches would be cured if everyone understood this

[beif0ngs]

Over the Garden Wall 10th Anniversary stop motion short by creator Patrick McHale and Aardman Animations

[greykolla-art]

Yeah I think you’re in the right place, Al.

[gorescreamingshow]

he's listening and learning

[synd0nicosmosis]

Drawing of Farcille monster Yuri

Inspired by this tweet

[stanpineskisser]

Stan is SUCH a girldad it makes my heart hurt

(Any ship taggers will be blocked on sight 🩷)

[artsymeeshee]

Thinking about the idea I had a LONG time ago about Mabel sending motivational and complimenting stickers for the boys and Ford saving a “write your own message” one just for Stan and had to draw it.

[crumb-crumblet-s-crumbington]

elita pep talk

[priince-zam]

you are such a radiant sun, zam <3 hoping you have a wonderful day

ah?? thank you, whoever you are !! :] <3