Miracle Condor Chick Naming Campaign
Once known only by its ID number, LA1720, our miraculous, odds-defying California condor chick has a new name, thanks to generous donors who voted during our recent fundraising campaign. In helping to select the new name, donors from across the country supported the California Condor Recovery Program, with 100 percent of net proceeds of the fundraiser going to this trailblazing conservation effort.
And now, say hello to Cal the condor!
“Cal” is short for “California,” a name suggested by condor keeper Chandra David. For Chandra, the name “reminds us what this conservation program is all about. The reality is that we don’t need to travel halfway across the world to save endangered animals—it can start right where you live. The California condor is our bird, our conservation story—our past, present, and future.”
The nonprofit Greater Los Angeles Zoo Association, which supports the Zoo and its mission, would like to thank everyone who donated and joined us on this extraordinary journey.
Campaign Donors
$1,000 +
LouAnne Brickhouse
Leann Hennig
L. Kuenen
Susan Lord, The Bel-Air
Mary Ricks
Rochelle Woods
$500 – $999
Linda Gorman
Katherine Haley
Jenny Robertson
Susan Sears
Danny Strong
Julia Wang
Samara Winterfeld
$250 – $449
Genoveva Calloway
Cristy Egan
Susan Fuhs
Rose Garcia, Garcia Real Estate Group
Stacy Gonzalez
Sherry Grant
Charles Green
Jessica Horenstein
Gretchen Humbert
Matthew Kipper
Sandy Koppenol
Kerin Lou
Natalie Luongo
David Manske, MRK
Julie Marrero
Debra Moser
Alissa Myatt
Alan Potamkin
Rachel Rehwald
Jadee Rhodes
Katherine Robbins
James Salisbury
Nancy Santillan
Theresa Schneider
Richard Seavey
Tanja Stieglmeier
Madeline Taft
Debra Washington
Phyllis Weekes
Andrew Wilding
Jim Witoszynski
Pietr Young
$50 – $249
Christopher Adams
George Agortsas
Angela Aguilera
Elizabeth C. Barnes
Virginia Barton
Candice Basham
Kim Bernstein
Christina Beth
Shelley Billik
Heidi Birker
Laurie Black
DeeAnn Bradley
Kathy Brisacher
Margaret Brittingham
Joanna Brody
Nancy Bryan
Megan Campbell
Denys Carrillo
Martha Cederstrom
Jona Chick
Dana Chinn
Jo Christner
Kurt Colicchio
Claudia Collyer
Deborah Coltun
Debra Cornick
Elisabeth Couturier
Dave Danforth
Susan De Witt
JC Del Barco II
Brian Diaz
Maggie Dunlap
Georgann Eberhardt
Mary Elizabeth Ellis
Mary Endo
Melissa Evans
Laurie Fox
Eimile Gavagan
Donald Gerecht
Linda Gibson
Dale Gibson
Danamaya Gorham
Stephanie Gray
Lisa Griffiths
Olga Hanson
Fiona Harding
Christine Harman
Diana Hilberman
Nathanael Hill
Kathy Hinder
Susan Holburt
Kathy Hollison
Kate Horsfield
Michael Impastato
Marc Jablonski
Michele Jachimiak
Breen Jenkins
Nahmi Jones
Sharon Kallenberger
Jennifer Kallista
Marjorie Ketzler
Kimberly King-Burns
Jean Komatsu
Leann Kruse-Arcia
Thomas Lake
Kieu Lam
Charlotte LaSasso
Frances Lee
William Majors
Nairi Megrabian
Thorsten Melcher
Eve Memmo
Matt Mendenhall
Audra Meyer
L. Darlene Miller
Mary Moycik
Andrea Norcross
Marisa Ortiz
Cindy Pahl
Laura Pedersen
Cathleen Penyak
Isabelle Philipp
Candy Radford
Judy Rasmussen
Cory Raymond
Jody Robinette
Wanda Robinson
Sara Robinson-Glasser
Michael Rokeach
David Rosenthal
Lisa Roth
Lauren Saenz
Maritza Shaughnessy
Laurie and George Stoneman
Ann Svenson
Karen Thiesen
Rucinda Tu
Gwendolyn Urey
Linda Van Loon
Tish Villanueva
Laura Vogel
Jill Waterman
Robert Whalen
Jennifer Whitehead
Devin Williams
Brooke Williams
Tiana Williams-Claussen
Jacob Wilson
Valerie Woodard
Phebie Zaky
Kat Zimmerman
$5 – $49
Jaime Abdilla
Laurie Alexander
Mike Anderson
Linda Anicich
Jennifer Anton
Jody Anuskewic Manzanares
Sarah Archer
Diana Arya
Dana Astmann
A. J. Austin
Debra Austin-Brecher
Adriana Avelar
Julia Ayres
Claire Bai
Sharlene Baker
Sarah Ball
Amy Barrow
Phillip Bartels
Cormac Bartlett
Derrick Bass
Brenda Bass
Gail Bauhs
Maija Beattie
Margaret Beglarian
Emily Beglarian
Keith Bellinger
Wendy Bennett
Rita Blackwell
Melissa Bolton-Klinger
Erika Boychenko
Whitney Brandt
Alexandra Braude
Carol Bridgers
Bonnie Brown, Temple Sholom of Ontario
Jeanine Burandt
Denise Burrows
Debra Butterfield
Kathleen Byrnes
Aubrey Calderon
Jenna Calk
Jacquilyne Camarillo
Karen Campos
Sherri Carson
Judith Chance
Mary Chapman
Andy Choi
Aaron Clarius
Leslie Clemensen
James Cobb
Michael Connolly
Tracy Coombe
Holly Cox
Claire Crawley Delgado
Linda Crowe
Julia Crowley-Farenga
Elizabeth Dally
Carol DeProsse
Mary Deyo
Diane Dickey
Jill Dolan
Sylvie Drake Jurras
Andrea Drocco
Laura Dunbar
Shari Duron
Jackie Ealy, Jackie Ealy Human Resources
Dixie Ebright
Kassia Eklund
LisaRuth Elliott
Violeta Enciso
Laurence Erhili
Rodolfo Estrada
Alice Evans
Doemoni Eynon
Talia Fadlon
Karin Farrin
Sheri Fenster
Linda Fernandez
Madeline Ferraro
Nancie Fimbel
Anita Fisher
Elizabeth Flynn
Charla Foreman
Stephanie Fortin
Sue Fox
Natasha Fraley
Rebecca Frank
Roberta Frederick
Sharon Freed
Teri Frost
Rachel Gaither
Joy Gallis
Gilda Garcia
Diego Garcia
Ruzette Gayler
Megan Gee
Anthony Giambra
Julie Gilmore
Rosanne Giza
Andrea Gladstein
John Gleaves
Paul & Janice Goldfarb
Ric Green
Suzanne Hague
William Hand
Douglas Hanna
Helen Hansen
Colleen Haraden-Gorski
Lynn Harris
Meghan Hartmann
Monica Hein
Rachel Helfing
Catherine Helmick
Jessica Hickok
Charlotte Hildebrand
Amy Hill
Joshua Hillmann
Kristen Hodges
Jennifer Holtzman
Stacy Hurt
Teresa Ibarra
Susan Jackson
Amanda Jarnagin
Darci Jimenez
Pilar Johnson
Tabea Jones
Laurie Jones
Herbert Kaplan
Haley Keavy
Dave Keliher
Trisha Keller
Janning Kennedy
Abraham Kinney
Amanda Klimek
Wendy Kliment
Christina Kochel
Leigh Koelsch
Laurie Kovalenko
Alexandra Kovalick
Deb Kramer
Belinda Kremer
Liz La Dou
Margot Lachman
Caroline Lapere
Monica Lashley
Patty Laurie
Vivian Lei
Carron Leon
Lisa Liberman
Judy Lim
Patrick Lin
Kathryn Lindsey
Elizabeth Littell
Steve Longo
Brandon Lott
Kiran Malavade
Cassandra Maloney
Beth Mamula
Candice Mann
Parham Marashi
Emily Marrin
Gregory Martin
Molly Martin
Sandy Masuo
Jennifer Maxwell
Theresa McCarthy
Dawn McKenzie
Patricia McKnight
Melissa-Ann Mclellan
Lily Merczak
Wendy Michelson
Debbie Milford
Andrea Miller
Margaret Milligan
Fernando Montoya
Nancy Moore
Sue Moore
Erica Mootz
Miriam Morningstar
Mark Morrisette
Minta Mullins
Catherine Munson
Ingrid Murray
Erika Nanes
Merrianne Nedreberg
Anne Neruda
Diana Neskovska
Jennifer Ness
Fumie Noda
Mb Novak
Sean ODay
Jill O’Hora
Debbie Ordorica
Margaret Painter
Madonna Palladino
Christine Parisi
Beth Parker
Matt Patterson
Heather Pear
Charlene Peavey
Tamsen Peeples, Koru and Kelp LLC
Amanda Phipps
Kelsey Pokatello
Gwendolyn Pol
Natalie Poveda
Alyssa Quan
Stephanie Quartararo
Jane Quinsland
Michelle Rainville
Bill Raver
Julie Reagan
Robert Rencarge
Marcelle Rice
Claire Rifelj
Alisa Risso
Rochelle Ritchie
Ashley Robidoux
Kristin Robillard
Becci Rogers
Margaret Rose
Larry Rosenberg
Rebecca Rossner
Sasha Rumburg
Rose Sailcat
Dan Sankey
Rose Santomauro
Sally Schliesmayer
April Schuss
Tassilo Selover-Stephan
Lilly Sevilla
Eric Shalov
Elaine Shell
Lia Shrewsbury
Phyllis Simon Foster
Shawn Sites
Jane Skulmoski
Amy Marie Slocum
Elena Smaltino
Jennifer Smith
Patrick Smith, OnlineViz
Mary Snyder
Tracy Soderberg
Valerie Spencer
Hadley Stamp
Julie Stein
Louise Steinman
Erin Stoekl
Tania Sturtevant
Susan Styler
Eugene Sullivan
Dorothy Sundbye
Laurel Sutton, Rhubarb Consulting
Michele Swain
Susan Swensen
Denise Tamura
Earl Teraoka
Maureen Terry
Saumitra Thakur
Christa Theilen
Steve Thompson
Sarah Thompson
Elaine Todd
Susan Topper
Mike Tripp
Julianne Ture
Kazuki Uema
Rebecca Unger
Sydney Van Etten
Carol Vogel
Rae Walker
Joshua Ward
Will Weiss
Angela West
Linda Wilde
Candace Wilkins
Elizabeth Willis, Cornerstone
Dorothy Wills
Sally Wilson
Cloudia Wintermute
Margie G. Woods
Mary Worth
Camilla Yates
Nataraj Yenduri
Robert Zadra
Elizabeth Zapler, Carlthorp School
Karen Zehring
Dorothy Zensen
If errors or omissions have occurred, please accept our apologies and call the Development office at (323) 486-4253 to report corrections.
About the Campaign
In August 2020, the L.A. Zoo’s first-ever conservation ambassador—professional storyteller and vulture volunteer LouAnne Brickhouse—started chronicling the development and care of a California condor chick known as LA1720.
Since the chick’s social media debut, #LA1720 has captivated thousands of fans—from its uncertain beginnings as a malpositioned chick within the egg to its dramatic, keeper-assisted hatching to its re-introduction to parents Sequoia and Squapuni, a terrifying overnight health scare, and more. Today, LA1720 (now Cal) is a healthy, maturing chick who is on its way to flying… while continuing to lift our hearts.
Like all California condors hatched and cared for at the L.A. Zoo, Cal is part of the California Condor Recovery Program (CCRP), a collaborative effort that has brought this critically endangered species back from the very precipice of extinction. Since CCRP’s inception in 1982, the world population of California condors, which dipped to as low as 22 individuals, has soared to more than 520—with more than half of those birds living in the wild. Through the years, the L.A. Zoo’s role in the CCRP has evolved to represent what zoos do best in the conservation world—combine experience and knowledge gained from years of hands-on work with other conservation agencies. No zoo does more for the CCRP than the Los Angeles Zoo.
Not only do we care for California condors at the L.A. Zoo, we also breed them, prepare them for release into the wild, provide medical treatment for injured birds, perform nest checks and other monitoring and interventions in the field, and train and mentor staff from partner agencies and institutions. We also offer monetary support, through fundraising initiatives like our naming campaign.
In addition to Cal, the other name options were:
- Yurok – Suggested by Keeper Jon Guenther in honor of the First Nation working to reintroduce condors to their ancestral lands in Northern California.
- Wallace – Suggested by Keeper Mike Clark in honor of his mentor, the late Dr. Michael P. Wallace.
- Timoloqin – Suggested by Keeper Debbie Sears in honor of a local First Nation, the Chumash. In the Chumash language, “timoloqin” means “to tell a story.”