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Shadow (209) was raised by Andean Condors and hung out with his cohort members, The Great One (199), and Amigo (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 (209) 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 (209)'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 (209) has paired with Tiny (236). Together, they have successfully raised and fledged two biological chicks in the wild, Miracle (538) and Junipero (663). Shadow and Tiny later separated, and Shadow briefly paired with Wild 1 (231). After not producing chicks for several years, they split and Shadow re-paired with Pinnacles Condor 310. After a very short fling they too parted ways and he paired with Traveler (171), who, in 2022, was taken to Oakland Zoo and then Los Angeles Zoo and successfully treated for lead poisoning. Shadow (209) and Traveler (171) were reunited in September, 2022, when Traveler (171) was re-release to the wild after receiving a clean bill of health from LA Zoo.