Although some organizations have been in charge for about three decades now to protect these species, reintroduce them in certain spaces, recapture them when they are in danger and take care of them so that their reproduction is successful, the endangered andean condor it still fights against threats that will be mentioned here.
Andean condor
El Andean Condor, Andean condor or condor is a bird with a scientific name vultur gryphus, belonging to the family Cathartidae, of order Cathartiformes, class: Bird, phylum: Chordata of the kingdom Animalia. one of five kingdoms of living beings that are commonly handled by the vast majority of the world's scientific and biological community. They work to locate and organize species according to their characteristics and their evolutionary line.
Previously there were fewer kingdoms, even six and even seven were proposed to group those species that did not fall into the classification of any of the five kingdoms, which are: Animalia (kingdom of animals), Plantae (kingdom of plants), Fungi (kingdom of fungi), Protista (kingdom of those species that cannot be classified in the previous kingdoms) and Monera (kingdom of bacteria, algae and other microscopic organisms).
By knowing the categories to which an animal belongs, descriptions can begin to be made without even needing to know its unique name. The category of "species" finally differentiates beings from others by very specific characteristics that are not shared with others. species.
For example, the family to which the condor belongs includes scavenger birds, the order indicates that most of its species are predatory and diurnal, the class specifies that the species is a vertebrate bird that has extremities that evolved into wings with those that can fly, although they also walk, jump and some swim. The phylum of which it is a part explains that the species grouped there have a dorsal chord, a tail (at some point in their development) and bronchial slits.
The endangered Andean condor has some much more specific characteristics that will be mentioned later. By now it should be known that the condor habitat It is mainly South America, in fact, in countries like Argentina, Bolivia, Chile, Colombia and Peru the image of the condor is a national symbol, while in Ecuador it is the national bird, throughout South America this bird is a cultural and natural heritage.
Features
The main characteristics of the condor will be listed to learn a little more about this species:
- Of all land birds this is the largest of all, there are other birds that can reach 3,5 meters of wingspan and 1.30 meters in height, such as the albatross, but this is a bird that lives its life in the sea, so it enters the classification of Acuatic birds.
In general, the Andean condor has the third position in the list of the largest flying species that currently exist, its height can be 1.42 meters, while its body can measure 3.3 meters. There is a difference in size and weight in these birds according to sex, males are slightly heavier than females, males from 11 to 15 kg and females from 8 to 11 kg.
- Generally, the Andean condor in danger of extinction has its entire body black, except for its legs, which are gray, the plumage that surrounds its neck with white feathers, and its head, which is red. Something quite interesting is that the color of its head can change a bit depending on the emotional state of this species. When they are young, their plumage is brown and little by little they turn black.
- Males have brown eyes, females have red eyes.
- They can reach 6500 meters high to fly, their plumage supports low temperatures very well and in addition to that they usually fly up vertical thermal currents that have warm air.
- With regards to eating, their diet is based on dead or sick animals. Devouring first the eyes, then the tongue, then they go through the sexual organs, the abdomen, belly, crotch and so on until they eat all the soft parts of the corpse. They do not do this immediately after the animal dies, they wait up to two days to approach and start eating.
- They eat about five kilos of meat daily, but they can easily help for four or five weeks.
- According to the reproduction, they are monogamous and only when their partner dies do they look for a new one.
- The entire process from courtship to raising their chicks takes between two or three years, in fact, incubation alone lasts 56 to 60 days.
- These birds can be considered sexually mature when they are already five or six years old, some are only so when they are eight years old.
- As for the life cycle of this species, they can reach up to 75 years of age (if they are in captivity).
- These birds are capable of laying an egg just every two years, which is a drawback to their endangered situation. A species that, in addition to being subjected to certain threats, has a very low reproductive rate, reaches extinction more quickly.
- After their reproduction, they usually build their nests on rocks that are inaccessible to humans and other predators, approximately 1000 or 5000 meters above sea level.
Dangers that threaten the Andean condor to extinction
The Andean condor in danger of extinction is just another species that for decades has been fighting against external threats and losing the battle, some of the reasons why it has been on the list of animals in danger of extinction since 1970 are human activity and some natural factors. These natural factors are their low rate of reproduction, so taking up to two years to reproduce, it is natural that there are few specimens, which can live a long time.
Regarding human activity this is the most significant factor that affects the existence of this species, a first threat within this group is the poisoned carrion that is placed to attract them and prevent the livestock from being in danger. A second threat is the hunting of this species, by the XNUMXth century this bird was almost extinct due to hunters who wanted its jet black feathers and meat.
A third threat is the destruction of their habitat, this is the product of deforestation, pollution in various ways, urbanization of the land on which they are found, among other things. These factors are the reasons why there are currently few specimens of this species, in Peru specifically it is only estimated that there are 2500.
Conservation
The first step for the conservation of the Andean condor in danger of extinction was to identify it as a threatened species, after that it began to be considered a protected species in various nations. Little by little, awareness campaigns were carried out so that both farmers and the rest of the people avoided poisoning them.
Some are kept in captivity for protection and others have been released so that they can be repopulated elsewhere. All this takes care that the chicks are not close to humans and can grow healthy, this so that they do not approach areas where there are people because they believe that they are not threats to them. It would be said that they are the threats, but they are not. As can be seen, their behavior does not negatively affect human life, quite the opposite.