![]() It doesn’t help that farmers try to shoot them whenever they see them, because they wrongly think the birds will eat their livestock. One or two bullets are not particularly harmful, but multiple bullets across multiple carcasses cause lead poisoning. Because the condors eat carcasses, when hunters shoot an animal using lead bullets, the condors often end up eating the bullets. One of those threats is consumption of bullets. Just like their northern neighbors, the California condors, Andean condors face human threats. ![]() In fact, these birds are actually resistant or immune to many deadly diseases, like rabies, tuberculosis, anthrax, and salmonella. In reality, these birds help keep the ecosystem and the world clean and free of disease.īy eating carcasses before they begin to decompose and putrefy, condors and vultures prevent diseases from multiplying and spreading. For centuries people have vilified them because we associate them with death. The Importance of the Condor & VultureĪll scavengers, particularly vultures and condors, are extremely important animals. They eat just about anything that they can find, including llamas, cows, sheep, deer, rheas, and even whales. Usually though, they feed on carcasses of animals. Most of the food they eat is already dead, but scientists have seen them hunting small animals like rabbits and birds. Unlike vultures, which have an impeccable sense of smell, these condors rely heavily on sight to locate food. For example, throughout their range in Argentina, they inhabit only the western border. Their range extends from Columbia into Ecuador, Peru, Bolivia, Chile, and Argentina.įor the most part, they live only within the mountain range, or in close proximity to it. This species lives along the western coast of South America, primarily throughout the Andes Mountains. Because they build their nests on cliffs or in small caves, they must live in close proximity to mountains or rocky outcrops. They often inhabit regions with vast open fields or meadows, near the mountains and the coasts of South America. In fact, some birds live as high as 18,000 ft. These condors live in rocky, mountainous regions, usually at high elevation. ![]() Researchers think that condors in the wild can live up to 50 years. The Beardsley Zoo in Connecticut was home to an Andean condor by the name of Thaao, who lived to the ripe old age of 80 years.
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