Rescued condor released into the wild in Bolivia
The five-year-old male condor had been in treatment for three weeks before flying again. He was found in poor condition by local farmers and turned over to the Vesty Pakos nature park for his rehabilitation.
Conservationists have been working to improve the numbers of the Andean condor -- among the largest birds in the world -- for decades.
According to National Geographic, Andean condors can live as long as 75 years in captivity, but they reproduce slowly. A mating pair produces only a single offspring every other year, and both parents must care for their young for a full year.
The Andean condor is considered endangered but is in far better shape than its California cousin. There are currently an estimated few thousand of the South American birds in the wild today with reintroduction programmes working to supplement that number.
