Two very special passengers departed from Cincinnati aboard a plane headed to Colombia. The two female Andean condors will then use their own wings to soar above the clouds as part of a successful international collaborative program that reintroduces this endangered species to its native home range in Colombia.

The two young condors hatched to parents from the Cincinnati Zoo & Botanical Garden and the San Antonio Zoo. Before being released, the pair will be outfitted with radio telemetry equipment provided by the San Diego Zoo's Wild Animal Park for Colombia biologists to monitor the birds in the wild.

"One of the most rewarding aspects for zoos is to be able to participate in reintroduction programs in which endangered animals like the Andean condor can be seen flying in its native home," said Michael Mace, curator of birds for the San Diego Zoo's Wild Animal Park and coordinator of the condors trip to Colombia. "The telemetry equipment will allow biologists to make sure the condors adjust well to their new home and to study the species in the wild."

A Successful Program for Nearly Two Decades

For more than 18 years, the San Diego Zoo has been working with South American government agencies and conservation organizations to send Andean condors to both Colombia and Venezuela. Eighty-two Andean condors have been sent to these two countries, 70 of those to Colombia.

"The Andean condor program is international in scope and involves 19 zoos in the United States as well as federal and local agencies in North and South America," said Mace, who is also the Association of Zoos and Aquariums' Andean condor Species Survival Program coordinator.

The two condors will be received by CORPOBOYACA, a natural resources management agency, with the help of the Colombian federal agency Ministerio de Medioambiente de Colombia and the private organization Fundación Neotropical.

"It is a pivotal moment to have the privilege and ability to release an animal into the wild," said David Oehler, director of Animal Collections at the Cincinnati Zoo & Botanical Garden. "This endeavor is a feather in the cap of the Cincinnati Zoo and all of those involved in the Andean Condor recovery program."

This species of vulture is found throughout the Andes Mountains from Colombia to Tierra del Fuego, Argentina. Primarily, the Andean condor lives in high mountainous regions and open grasslands.

The Andean condor is threatened in its northern range and has become rare in Venezuela and Colombia. These two countries developed the reintroduction program to release captive-bred birds from conservation organizations such as North American zoos.

The San Diego Zoo and the Wild Animal Park have sent 30 Andean condors to South America over the last 14 years, the Cincinnati Zoo has sent six birds. Although this will be