Tracking what's alive on Earth and what affects it.
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On the wall: 1,000 or fewer left in the wild
California condor
392
Head count
December 2025
Gymnogyps californianus
USA (California, Arizona, Utah, Pacific Northwest) and Baja California, Mexico
Counted December 2025, by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service.
392 California condors were living in the wild on 31 December 2025, every bird known and counted by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service.
The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service names lead poisoning, the cause of half the wild deaths with a known cause since 1992. The Recovery Program works with hunters and ranchers to cut it.
How it was counted
Each wild condor is known and counted bird by bird, and a condor is declared dead after a set period with no contact. The figure covers every condor in the wild; the 215 in captivity are counted separately.
Every wild condor is known and counted bird by bird, so the figure is the whole wild number and not an estimate. Another 215 live in captivity, counted separately.
Earlier figures
- 373 in 2024: the previous count. Source: U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, California Condor Recovery Program.
What moves it
The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service names lead poisoning from spent ammunition as a cause of death for wild condors, and also lists bird flu and small bits of trash from around homes that condors feed to their chicks.
- lead poisoning, the cause of half the wild deaths with a known cause since 1992.
Lead poisoning is responsible for 50% percent of 324 deaths with a known cause
Source: U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, California Condor Recovery Program. - bird flu (HPAI).
2023 = 58 including 21 lost in AZ / UT HPAI outbreak
Source: U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, California Condor Recovery Program. - microtrash fed to chicks.
Condors can ingest small items around homes and feed them to their chicks
Source: U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service.
Who is helping
The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service's California Condor Recovery Program works with The Peregrine Fund, Ventana Wildlife Society, the National Park Service, zoos, states, the Yurok Tribe and Mexico to breed condors in captivity and release them, and with hunters and ranchers to cut lead poisoning from spent ammunition. Captive breeding takes place at the Peregrine Fund's World Center for Birds of Prey, Los Angeles Zoo, San Diego Zoo and Safari Park, Oregon Zoo and Chapultepec Zoo.
The next count
The count is annual. No date for the next count is known as of 12 November 2026.
Sources
- U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, California Condor Recovery Program Last checked 12 November 2026.
- U.S. Fish and Wildlife ServiceCalifornia Condor (Gymnogyps californianus) Last checked 12 November 2026.
What changed
- 12 November 2026 Added to Live Species, on the wall (1,000 or fewer): 392 (Head count, December 2025).
Next on the wall
The letter
The letter comes once a month, on the first Thursday. It gives what changed on Live Species, one animal up close and the humans figure for contrast.