LOS ANGELES : Zoos Send 5 Andean Condors to Venezuela
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Five endangered Andean condors that were hatched in Los Angeles and San Diego were sent Thursday to Venezuela for release in their historical habitat.
The last confirmed sighting of an Andean condor in Venezuela was in 1912, said Alan Lieberman, a curator at the San Diego Zoo, and fewer than 10,000 exist in South America. The five birds left Los Angeles International Airport for Merida, Venezuela, where they will be trucked to the Sierra de la Culata mountains. The condors will spend two to eight weeks in an outdoor pen before being released.
The project is being conducted by scientists at the Los Angeles, San Diego and Dallas zoos, and the Venezuelan national park service.
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