PORTLAND, Ore. (KOIN) – The Oregon Zoo announced the first California condor to hatch at its conservation center is turning 20 years old on Thursday, celebrating a milestone for a species once facing extinction.

"It was definitely very exciting being part of that first egg that was hatched in Oregon in over 150 years, but it was quite the wild ride," said Joe Burnett of the Ventana Wildlife Society.

According to the Oregon Zoo, the incubator housing the condor egg lost power during an ice storm and was left vulnerable to the life-threatening cold.

"I said, 'If we run out of fuel, we might have to huddle with this egg to keep it warm," Burnett recalled. "And at the time I was joking, but it was actually pretty serious."

Power was restored to the incubator, and later, condor No. 340, named Kun-Wac-Shun, or "Thunder and Lightning," by Chief Nelson Wallulutum of the Wasco tribe, hatched at the Oregon Zoo on May 9, 2004.

Over a decade later, Kun-Wac-Shun has been flying free in Central California's Pinnacles National Park, where he's been a major part of keeping the species alive.

“It’s a great occasion to celebrate a species that not too long ago was on the very brink of extinction,” said Travis Koons, who oversees the Oregon Zoo’s condor program. “In the 1980s, fewer than 30 of these birds remained on the planet. No. 340 has played a big role in the condor’s comeback.”

Now, the zoo said, Kun-Wac-Shun is one of the most dominant males in the flock.

“Condors raised in Oregon have a reputation for toughness,” Koons said. “And that probably started with No. 340. He was the first one out, a true survivor, and he just might be the toughest of them all.”

According to the Zoo, Kun-Wac-Shun paired up with Tiny, No. 236, and welcomed five wild-hatched chicks into the world – including the first condor to fledge from its nest at Pinnacles in over a century.

The first condor hatched at the Oregon Zoo, Kun-Wac-Shun, is turning 20-years-old in May 2024 and played a major role in helping the species make a comeback (Courtesy Oregon Zoo.)
The first condor hatched at the Oregon Zoo, Kun-Wac-Shun, paired with Tiny in California’s Pinnacles National Park and welcomed five chicks into the world (Courtesy Oregon Zoo.)
The first condor hatched at the Oregon Zoo, Kun-Wac-Shun, paired with Tiny in California’s Pinnacles National Park and welcomed five chicks into the world (Courtesy Oregon Zoo.)

The zoo notes Kun-Wac-Shun hasn’t had an easy journey. He’s been treated for elevated lead levels at least 15 times over the years, most recently at the Oakland Zoo in 2021.

His first partner died of lead poisoning in 2014 and his first “history-making” offspring died in 2022, the zoo said.

Accumulated lead poisoning – which impacts all raptors and scavengers – is the leading cause of death for free-flying condors, officials said. When the birds feed on animal carcasses, they can ingest lead from bullet fragments, which may result in paralysis of the digestive tract and a slow death by starvation.

The California condor was one of the first animals included in the 1973 Endangered Species Act and is classified as critically endangered.

In 1982, 22 condors remained in the wild and in 1987, the last condors were brought into human care to save the species from extinction.

With help from recovery programs, there are now more than 500 condors flying free, the Oregon Zoo said.

Amid continued conservation efforts for the species, Burnett added that Kun-Wac-Shun is "really the epitome of what's been accomplished with condors."