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After a tense overnight wait, the Los Angeles Zoo welcomed its newest addition on Friday: a California condor chick.

The baby bird emerged from its shell on Friday morning after the egg — referred to as LA1720 — began hatching Thursday night, according to the zoo.

Condor keeper Debbie monitored the birth and gave the chick a thorough exam after it emerged from the shell.

The chick’s health be will be monitored for the next 36 hours “to make sure this new life is strong,” with the goal of getting the small bird into the nestbox with its parents, Sequoia and Squapuni, zoo officials said.

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EXCITING California condor update from LouAnne (@thedailyjames), our Conservation Ambassador: #LA1720 HAS BEEN BORN INTO OUR WORLD! It was after hours when this little one decided it was time and condor keeper Debbie was there, with great gentility, patience, and expertise, to make sure this malpositioned baby (see earlier posts) could get out of the shell. LISTEN TO THAT WEE VOICE! Debbie gives the newly hatched chick a very thorough exam (the equivalent of checking for all 10 fingers and toes), which includes applying antiseptic to the umbilicus (the equivalent to a human baby’s umbilical cord). The chick will go right into a warm brooder so the team can monitor health over the next 36 hours to make sure this new life is strong. The goal will be to get baby in the nestbox with parents Sequoia and Squapuni, and that is another challenge entirely! For now, baby is going right to sleep because being born is exhausting. Once there were only 22 of these birds left on the planet, and as of last night, there’s one more because the Condor team as well as teams around the Zoo did not give up. It’s an incredible emotional experience to, literally, witness these folks saving a species from extinction. Stay with us, pray with us. –LouAnne, honored to be the L.A. Zoo's Conservation Ambassador #helloworld #zoobaby #zoobabies #californiacondor #wildlifeconservation #lazoo #savingspecies #vulture #criticallyendangered #conservationambassador #babybird #californiacondorrecoveryprogram * LouAnne (@thedailyjames) is a professional storyteller and the Zoo's first-ever Conservation Ambassador. On her social media channels and ours, she is chronicling the Zoo's efforts to breed, care for, and restore to the wild critically endangered California condors. Search #LA1720 or go to https://bit.ly/LA1720Highlights to see all of LouAnne's posts to date about this particular chick and keep following along for updates as the story continues.

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For decades, the L.A. Zoo has been working to help ensure the survival of the endangered species through its California Condor Recovery Program.

The program began in 1982, as the total number of California condors on the planet dipped to a precarious 22, and federal and state wildlife officials agreed to a captive breeding program to help save the imperiled birds from extinction.

The species once inhabited the entire Pacific Coast, from Canada to Baja California. But by 1987, poaching, leading poisoning and habitat destruction lead to their disappearance from the wild.

In recent years, however, captive breeding programs have helped rescue the population of North America’s biggest land bird. Last year, the recovery reached a major milestone with the hatching of the 1,000th chick.

About half of all living California condors currently reside in the wild, according to the L.A. Zoo. The majestic scavengers were recently spotted at Sequoia National Park, marking the first such sighting in at least three decades in an area that historically was part of their range.