Condor chick disappears from nest in Mexico park

The effort to restore the California condor to its native habitat has suffered a setback, San Diego Zoo officials announced Friday.

The first condor chick hatched in Baja California since condors were reintroduced to the Sierra San Pedro de Martir National Park in 2002 has disappeared from the nest. The chick may have been killed by insects or snatched by a predator bird, officials said.

It was the offspring of two condors released into the wild.

“The loss of this chick is not unexpected in a new pair, as first-time parents rarely succeed in raising their first chick,” said Mike Wallace, condor scientist with the zoo’s center for Conservation and Research for Endangered Species. “It is a learning experience for them and us.”