“YEAR OF THE BICENTENNIAL, OF THE
CONSOLIDATION OF OUR INDEPENDENCE, AND OF
THE COMMEMORATION OF THE HEROIC BATTLES OF
JUNÍN AND AYACUCHO.”
ISSUE: THE ANDEAN CONDOR IN DANGER OF
EXTENCION
TEACHER: OSWALDO KENKY KENYO ESTRADA
PACHARREZ
MEMBER: DORIS DIANA HUERTAS AGURTO
ID : 1505250
2024
THE ANDEAN CONDOR IN
DANGER OF EXTENCION
HABITAT AND FOOD
THE ANDEAN CONDOR INHABITS COASTAL MOUNTAINS AND
MOUNTAINOUS HABITAT TYPES IN THE ANDES MOUNTAINS OF
SOUTH AMERICA. THIS SPECIES HAS BEEN LOCATED AT
ALTITUDES OF UO TO 5 500 METERS.
IT PREFERS OPEN SPACE AREAS, WHICH HELPS IT TO DETECT
FOOD. THE ANDEAN CONDOR RESTS ON CLIFFS, ROCKY
LEDGES OR IN SMALL CAVES, WHERE IT ALSO NESTS. EACH
CLUTCH INCLUDES A SINGLE WHITE EGG THAT IS INCUBATED
BY BOTH SEXES. IT NESTS ONLY ONCE A YEAR.
THE CONDOR IS AN EXCLUSIVELY SCAVENGER ANIMAL
FEEDING ON ALL TYPES OF LARGE DEAD ANIMALS, SUCH AS:
LLAMAS, ALPACAS, DEER, COWS, ETC.
FOR THIS REASON, ITS HEAD AND NECK ARE DEVOID OF
FEATHERS, TO PREVENT BACTERIA AND FUNGI FROM
DECAYING MEAT FROM CAUSING DISEASE. THEY SOMETIMES
HUNT SMALL SPECIES SUCH AS RABBITS AND RODENTTS.
THEIR SHORT BEAK IS DESIGNED TO TEAR DECAYING MEAT, SO
THEY CAN HARDLY HUNT LARGE ANIMALS AS COMMONLY
BELIEVED.
CHARACTERISTICS OF THE ANDEAN CONDOR
THE ANDEAN CONDOR CAN REACH A HEIGHT OF 1.4 METERS
AND A WINGSPAN OF ALMOST 3 METERS, WEIGHING UP TO
15 KG IN MALES AND 11 KG IN FEMALES.
BECAUSE OF ITS SIZE, WINGSPAN AND WIEGHT, IT IS
CONSIDERED THE LARGEST FLYING BIRD ON THE PLANET.
THE SKIN OF THE HEAD HAS A SLIGHT REDDISH TONE AND
A HOOKED BEAK WITH VERY SHARP EDGES.
THE ANDEAN CONDOR HAS WIDE LEGS, WITH SHORT,
SLIGHTLY CURVED NAILS. THE LEGS ARE ADAPTED FOR
WALKING AND SKILLFULLY HANDLING THE CARRION ON
WHICH THEY FEED.
THE PLUMAGE OF THE YOUNG SPECIMES IS BROWN,
DURING SUCCESSIVE FEATHER MOLTS, THE ADULT ANDEAN
CONDOR ACQUIRES THE CHARACTERISTIC BLACK PLUMAGE
THAT CHARACTERIZES IT. IT WEARS A STRIKING WHITE
FEATHER COLLAR AROUND ITS NECK.
MALES HAVE A CREST AND FOLDS ON THE FACE AND NECK
THAT INCREASE IN SIZE AS THE CONDOR AGES. THE
FEMALES, ALTHOUGH LACKING THE CREST THAT
DISTINGUISHES THE MALES, DO HAVE THE FOLDS ON THEIR
FACE AND NECK. ANOTHER DISTINCTIVE FEATURE IS THAT
FEMALES ARE SMALLER THAN MALES. THE CONDOR CAN
LIVE UP TO 60 YEARS APPROXIMATELY, DEPENDING ON THE
ENVIRONMENT WHERE IT DEVELOPS.
ECOLOGICAL ROLE AND THREATS
THE ANDEAN CONDOR PLAYS AN IMPORTANT ECOLOGICAL
ROLE AS A SCAVENGER BECAUSE IT ACCELERATES THE
DECOMPOSITION PROCESS OF DEAD ANIMALS, THUS
REDUCING THE RISK OF DISEASES ASSOCIATED WITH THE
SLOW PUTREFACTION OF ANIMALS. IT IS ALSO OF
EVOLUTIONARY IMPORTANCE BECAUSE IT IS ONE OF THE
SEVEN SPECIES OF AMERICAN VULTURE KNOWN FOR ITS
GREAT SENSE OF SMELL. IT IS ONE OF THE ONLY PREDATORS
THAT CAN BREAK THE HARD SKIN OF GUANACOS WITH ITS
BEAK. IT FLIES THANKS TO THE THERMAL RISE, WHICH HELPS
OT TO SEE THE CARRION FROM VERY HIGH UP AND REACH IT
WITHOUT WASTING ENERGY.
THE CONDOR HAS BEEN THREATENED BY HUNTING,
DEFORESTATION, AIR, WATER AND FOOD POLLUTION, AND
THE SEVERE REDUCTION OF ITS FOOD SOURSE (DEAD
ANIMALS). ANDEAN CONDOR POPULATIONS HAVE SUFFERED
AN ALARMING DECLINE IN RECENT DECADES THROUGHOUT
THE ANDES. REPOPULATION PROJECTS ARE CURRENTLY
UNDERWAY IN AREAS HISTORICALLY INHABITED BY CONDORS
AND FROM WHICH THEY WERE EXTIRPATED IN THE 20TH
CENTURY. THE PLANET IS IN DANGER OF LOSING A SPECIES OF
BIRD IN DANGER OF EXTINCTION WITHOUT EQUAL AND THE
RESPONSIBILITY OF THIS AND OF SAVING IT IS OF THE MAN.
