Endangered condor dies of lead poisoning months after being freed - The bird was just 18 months at the time of his death

A young California condor from the L.A. Zoo had been flying freely for only three months when he died after ingesting a lead pellet from an air gun.

Lead poisoning poses the single greatest threat to California condors. Even a small amount of lead can be fatal to a condor or other birds, such as vultures and eagles. According to the USFWS, half of the known condor deaths in California between 1992 and 2020 were due to lead poisoning.

A California condor, known as Pey-noh-pey-o-wok', has died from lead poisoning just months after being released into the wild as part of the Yurok Tribe's Northern California Condor Restoration Program.

In a social media post on Wednesday, the tribe said the 18-month-old condor, found in the wild in January, died after it apparently ate an air gun pellet. The bird was found in a remote backwoods area of Redwood National Park .

B7, the youngest member of the North Coast’s fledgling California condor flock, also known by the Yurok name Pey-noh-pey-o-wok' (I am friend or kind