FIRE ESCAPE: HOW CALIFORNIA’S WILDFIRES FORCED THIS BABY CONDOR TO FLY.

On December 15th, as record-breaking wildfires raged through southern California’s Ventura County, wildlife biologists lost contact with California condor chick #871. The eight-month-old condor still hadn’t taken its first flight, and the fire was creeping down a ridge near the Hopper Mountain National Wildlife Refuge towards its nest.