LA Zoo Raises $31K In Naming Campaign For 'Miracle' Condor Hatchling
LOS ANGELES (CBSLA) — A fundraising campaign to name a "miracle condor" hatched at the Los Angeles Zoo has raised more than $31,000 to benefit the species' reintroduction into California's skies.
If the condor -- whose gender has not yet been determined -- is a male, it will be named Cal. If female, the condor will be known as Cali. For now, the condor is known as LA1720.
The Greater Los Angeles Zoo Association had launched the campaign on Dec. 9 with a goal of raising $25,000. Donations of any amount gave the donor a chance to select from four potential names. From donations that ranged from $1 to $1,000, the campaign raised $31,076.
The funds will support the zoo's efforts to rebuild the condor population in California, which had sunk to a low point of just 22 in the world in the 1980s.
This particular chick faced some serious health challenges even before hatching, including being malpositioned in the shell which could have ended with death, according to the zoo association. Medical intervention and the work of the zoo's condor keeper team kept the chick alive.
"This is the first time the L.A. Zoo has allowed real-time behind-the-scenes-access documentation of the condor team's vital work, and we galvanized legions of fans and followers to contribute to the name of the hatchling," Denise Verret, Los Angeles Zoo CEO and Director, said in a statement. "It's inspiring to see their hard work come from behind closed doors to public view so our supporters better understand the delicate, and often harrowing, work that goes into conservation and captive breeding."