Andean condor
Scientific name
Vultur gryphus
Body size
3.3 m wingspan
Up to 15 kg
Diet
Carrion
Conservation status
Vulnerable
Native habitat
South America in the Andes and the Santa Marta Mountains
LIFE SPAN
70 years
Meet our Andean condor
Our Andean condor is called Janina, and she was hatched in 1993 making her the oldest animal in the zoo. She is very fond of several keepers and likes to show them her best-loved purple ball whenever they are working with her. Her favourite food is rabbit, and she likes the odd mouse as a treat too.
About the Andean condor
Andean condors are a type of vulture. They are one of the world’s heaviest flying birds so can’t just flap and fly like smaller birds. They need help from the wind so they launch from high places and ride warm air currents (called thermals) to stay up in the sky.
Andean condors like to roost and breed at 3,000 to 5,000 metres above sea level, building nests on rocky ledges high up in the mountains.
Condors don’t hunt—they’re scavengers. That means they eat dead animals, especially big ones like deer or cattle which they look for while flying.
Did you know?
- their heads and necks don’t have many feathers, which helps them stay clean while eating
- it’s estimated that they spend less than one per cent of their time in the air, preferring to hop, skip and jump their way around
- Andean condors are the national bird of Bolivia, Chile, Colombia, Ecuador, and Peru and are considered sacred in some cultures
