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#209 “Shadow”

Sex: Male ​

 Hatch Location & Date: San Diego Zoo, 5/15/1999

Release Date: 3/4/2000 ​

Parents:  #20 and #29                             

Local Biological Siblings: #168, #199, and #726     ​

Breeding Status: Paired with Pinnacles Condor #310 (Previously with #236, then #231)    ​

Offspring: #538, #663

Shadow was raised by Andean Condors and hung out with his brothers, #199 and #204, after his release. As juvenile condors, they went everywhere together, occasionally getting into trouble (not unlike human teenagers with a lot of extra time). In 2002, Shadow gave our biologists a scare when he went missing. We tracked him using radio telemetry to Limekiln State Park, but could not see where he was. It is unusual for a condor to stay perched for almost a week and we were worried he was injured. Shadow's signal was tracked to a stand of gigantic redwoods and we realized that even if he needed help, we couldn't safely get to him. Later, we saw him looking healthy and we never figured out why he hid in the redwood shadows for so many days.
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In more recent years, Shadow has paired with Condor #236. Together, they have successfully raised and fledged two biological chicks in the wild, Condor #538 and Condor #663. #209 and #236 separated, and #209 briefly paired with #231. After not producing chicks for several years they too split, and #209 now seems to be paired with Pinnacles Condor #310. Hopefully this pair ends up being successful nesters!