San Diego

With a little help from its friends, the fourth California condor chick to hatch this year came into the world Tuesday morning at the San Diego Wild Animal Park.

The chick, named Shasta, was assisted from its shell by two condor keepers and weighed in at 6.8 ounces, the park reported. Like its predecessors, the chick will remain in indoor isolation and be watched closely until it is moved to a small pen when it is about 2 months old.

Shasta represents the first successful “double-clutch” hatching in captivity for the California condors. The first egg produced by its parents, AC4 and UN1, hatched two months ago. That chick now weighs about 3 pounds and has been moved into a pen. Last year, AC4 and UN1 also produced the first California condor chick ever both bred and hatched in captivity.

The other two California condors hatched at the park this year also continue to do well, said Tom Hanscom, park spokesman. They weigh about 1 1/2 pounds.

Meanwhile, AC4 and UN1 have begun rearing an Andean condor chick that was placed in their nest to see if they would do so. Closed-circuit television is being used to record for the first time the chick-rearing behaviors of the California condor.