In 1983, fewer than 30 California condors existed in the world. The population decline had begun in the 1800s, with American settlement of the West. Primary causes of death for the birds were lead poisoning, shooting, and interaction with human-made objects, such as power lines. In April 1987, in a desperate effort to save the highly endangered species from extinction, the last wild condor was taken into captivity. Within five years, successful captive-breeding programs at the San Diego Wild Animal Park and the Los Angeles Zoo had doubled the number of condors. Hand puppets were used by keepers to feed condor chicks. The use of the hand puppet helps to limit human contact and lessen the chances of condors imprimting on humans. In 1992, the first two condors were reintroduced to the wild. Today, the world count stands at 162 birds, with 50 condors flying wild over remote areas of California and Arizona.

There are only 3000 white herons left in the wild, 2000 living in China. This endangered species travel south during the winter and eat about 1/4 kg of fish every day. On January 21, a dead White Heron was sighted in a lake near Beijing. The autopsy showed that it had died of hunger from lack of fish in the lake. Since Beijing had experienced warm weather in the beginning of the winter season, the herons had decided to stay in the area. However, when there was a sudden change in weather, the number of fish in the lakes were reduced, causing starvation among the birds. In an effort to save the herons, the Beijing Zoo dumped fish into their lake, enabling the starvation to end.

On August 3 2000, two giant panda cubs were born to the Beijing Zoo. After a gestation 125 days, the panda mother gave birth to two 120 gram babies that are being hand-reared by zoo staff. There are only about 1000 giant pandas left in the wild, all living in Sichuan, China.

At birth, baby pandas are small, and are very poorly developed. They need do not have their black and white fur and are very fragile.

It is very difficult to breed these animals in captivity and each panda birth is an excitement. The Beijing Zoo has been featuring giant pandas since 1955. Now, of the 10 pandas at the zoo, there is only one that was captured from the wild.

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In December of 1999, many swans inhabiting the Yangtze River in China were found to be poisoned or killed by hunters. On January the next year, officials found the culprit of the poisoning of swans to be local farmers. The farmers intended to poison some ducks, living in the shallow water of the river in order to sell them at the market. However, the swans ate the poison algae in the water, 46 of them died. Officials are now making sure this poisoning will not happen anymore.