Rewilded Condors Find a Haven in Chilean Patagonia
January 21, 2026
Photo by Franco Davico
Cheered on by community groups from throughout the region of Cochrane, Chile, three once-captive, now-rehabilitated Andean condors were released into the blue expanse of Patagonian skies in January to reinforce a growing local population of the largest raptor in the world.
Patagonia is home to 70 percent of the Andean condors in Chile, where they are increasingly under threat from ingesting carrion contaminated with poison that is used to control predators of domestic livestock. The species has been in steep decline in central Chile, an area densely populated by humans, as well as the northern Andes. Eduardo Pavez, director of the Manku Project, remarked, “Patagonia is largely ‘wild country,’ which makes a great difference for condors and for wildlife in general.”
Photo by Guiselle Parades / Rewilding Chile
A symbol of Andean culture for millennia, the Andean condor has a 10-foot wingspan and lives in large groups. Individuals can live for up to 70 years. Cristián Saucedo, wildlife director of Rewilding Chile, emphasized: “Condors play a key role in nature, they are the scavengers of the Andes, of these valleys and mountains that we see today in Patagonia National Park, and they represent a call for reflection on our relationship with natural ecosystems.”
Photo by Franco Davico
Carmen is a female condor born in captivity in 2023; Auquinco, a juvenile male rescued in Lago Ranco with a damaged wing; and Farellón, a male discovered in the mountains of Chile’s Metropolitan Region with a fractured foot. Several months ago, they traveled from the Raptor Rehabilitation Center (CRAR) in central Chile to Patagonia National Park, where they have undergone a quarantine and adaptation period in pre-release pens.
Researchers outfitted the condors with satellite and radio transmitters to collect key data about their health and use of habitat. So far, the decade-long program has released more than two dozen condors in Patagonia.
Francisca Cortés Solari, the executive president of Philanthropy Cortés Solari, highlighted: “Since 2019, within the framework of the Manku Project, we have been using the satellite monitoring of flight patterns to understand the condors’ movements, their threats, and identify where the critical risks are concentrated.” She adds, “This data helps design policies and measures of protection within territorial strategies to truly contribute to the effective conservation of this emblematic species for Chile and our region.”
Photo by Linde Waidhofer
About the Manku Project
Created in 2014, the Manku Project is an ambitious public-private collaboration between Rewilding Chile, Philanthropy Cortes Solari, and Aves Chile (UNORCH), whose Raptor Rehabilitation Center is supported by the National Zoo of Chile’s Metropolitan Park, with additional support from the Chilean Agricultural and Livestock Service, the Chilean National Forest Corporation, Bioamérica Consultores, and Latam Airlines.
The Manku Project has released 25 Andean condors. Many of them have been fitted with satellite transmitters, which verify that the majority now live among local condor populations and fly extensive distances through Chilean and Argentine Patagonia. A group of six condors has traveled up to 215 miles north-south and 150 miles east-west, primarily over Patagonian steppe. Notably, less than a quarter of their time is spent within protected areas. This monitoring, carried out under the Manku Project, helps guide conservation planning across both protected areas and ranching areas, and supports informed decision-making by communities and authorities.
Photo by Linde Waidhofer
About Patagonia National Park
One of the largest grasslands restoration projects, Patagonia National Park was created through a 2017 protocol between Tompkins Conservation and the Chilean state, which formalized a 200,000-acre donation that was combined with Jeinimeni and Tamango National Reserves to create the 700,000-acre national park. Today, Rewilding Chile, the offspring of Tompkins Conservation, continues the monitoring and restoration of species in the park, including the highly endangered huemul deer, Darwin’s rhea, puma, small cats, and Andean condor.
A driving force to curb the worldwide climate emergency and the biodiversity crisis, Tompkins Conservation protects, rewilds, and defends land and marine ecosystems in the Southern Cone through collaborating to create national parks and rewilding key species. Working with public and private partners, the organization has helped to create 13 national parks, protecting 14.5 million acres. The goal is to restore a healthy planet with big, wild, and connected landscapes where animals and plants can thrive. This also means helping to build robust communities that benefit from a healthy natural world.
Kristine McDivitt Tompkins and Douglas Tompkins (1943-2015) founded Tompkins Conservation after leading iconic American clothing brands—Kristine as longtime CEO of Patagonia Inc, and Doug as co-founder of The North Face and Esprit. Changing course in the early 1990s to focus on conservation, they became two of the most successful conservation philanthropists in history. After Doug lost his life in a tragic kayaking accident in 2015, Kristine has continued to build on their foundation. She is now the president of Tompkins Conservation and a UN Environment Patron of Protected Areas.
A 501(c)(3) public charity, Tompkins Conservation carries out conservation projects through the nonprofit network of Rewilding Chile and Rewilding Argentina.