ANDEAN CONDORIngo Arndt

With a wingspan of more than three metres (ten feet), the Andean condor is one of the largest flying birds on our planet. To be able to fly with its relatively high body weight of up to 15 kilogrammes (33 pounds), it relies on strong winds. The Andean condor is a master at navigating through air currents and heat thermals. Its home range, the South American Andean region from Venezuela to Tierra del Fuego, offers perfect conditions for this. Condors are scavengers. The threat of shooting, poisoning and trapping still exists regionally, albeit to a much lesser extent today. Poison baits are set out to kill pumas and foxes and also poison the condors, which feed on the carcasses. The IUCN estimates the total population of the Andean condor at just 6,700 adult birds. In the northern Andes, the Andean condor has almost disappeared, while a healthy population of this rare bird still exists in Patagonia today.