Condor Chick Hatched at L.A. Zoo

Another condor chick has hatched at the Los Angeles Zoo, the second birth of the rare bird this year, zoo officials said Sunday.

The birth of Pawoko came just two weeks after the hatching of another chick, Moko, bringing to six the number of its species to be born at the zoo. Pawoko’s sex won’t be known for three months.

The chicks’ names are Native American words--Pawoko meaning condor; Moko translating as “to be born and leave.” The latter’s name is appropriate since zoo officials may release some condors into the wild later this year if the breeding program continues to be successful.

Pawoko, a 6 1/2-ounce chick, was born at 10:13 p.m. Saturday. It is the 42nd California condor remaining on Earth, all of them at the Los Angeles Zoo and the San Diego Wild Animal Park. Zoo spokeswoman Deborah Pollack said there are six more condor eggs getting ready to hatch in the zoo’s “condorminiums,” the next one due April 8.

None of the California condors--adults or chicks--are on public display. “We want to leave them as undisturbed as possible,” Pollack said.