Answers and an explanation for each question appear once you add this activity to your own library.

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How to use this lesson

👩‍🏫 For Teachers:

• Give students 5 minutes to read the text and 10 minutes to solve the 8 questions.

• Check answers together using the exact evidence lines quoted after each question.

🧑‍🎓 For Learners:

• First, read through paragraphs A to D to understand the story and spot key numbers.

• Next, answer each question carefully and look back at the text to prove your choice.

Magazine Feature • Nature & Conservation

Saving the California Condor: How Zoos Help a Giant Bird Fly Free Again

A magnificent California condor soaring with huge wings spread wide over dramatic rocky canyon cliffs under a bright cle

A California condor in flight over rocky canyon country.

The California condor is a very big bird. Its wings measure about 9.5 feet from tip to tip, and an adult weighs 17 to 25 pounds. By 1987 all of the remaining wild condors were in a captive breeding programme.

The US Fish and Wildlife Service runs the programme with partners. The partners include the San Diego Zoo, the Los Angeles Zoo and the Oregon Zoo. The Los Angeles Zoo says that it and the San Diego Zoo Wildlife Alliance helped to start the breeding work. Since 1992 the programme has also let captive-bred condors go back into the wild. In 2025 it released 46 birds.

At the end of 2025 the world had 607 California condors. Of these, 392 flew free in the wild and 215 lived in captivity. In 2025 the programme had 54 breeding pairs in captivity.

Life in the wild is still dangerous. From 1992 through 2025 there were 161 confirmed deaths from lead poisoning among the condors that fly free.

Questions 1–2: True / False / Not Given

Do the following statements agree with the information given in the text? Choose TRUE if the statement agrees with the text, FALSE if it contradicts the text, or NOT GIVEN if there is no information on this.

1 By 1987, there were no longer any California condors living freely in the wild.

____ TRUE ____ FALSE ____ NOT GIVEN

2 The Oregon Zoo spent more financial resources on the breeding programme than the Los Angeles Zoo.

____ TRUE ____ FALSE ____ NOT GIVEN

Questions 3–4: Multiple Choice

Choose the correct letter, A, B, C, or D.

3 What was the essential goal of releasing captive-bred condors starting in 1992?

____ A. To reduce crowding in cages because zoos had run out of space. ____ B. To re-establish a free-living condor population in nature. ____ C. To replace the breeding pairs that lived in captivity in 1987. ____ D. To stop the captive breeding programme run by wildlife agencies.

4 What can be inferred from paragraphs C and D about the current status of the California condor?

____ A. The species is completely recovered because more condors live in the wild than in captivity. ____ B. Breeding in captivity has stopped because 54 pairs produced enough young birds in 2025. ____ C. The species has grown in number, but serious environmental hazards still threaten its survival. ____ D. Zoos plan to keep all remaining condors in captivity to avoid poison risks.

Questions 5–6: Paragraph Matching

The passage has four paragraphs, A–D. Which paragraph contains the following information? Choose the correct letter, A, B, C, or D.

5 the specific count of California condors flying free in nature at the end of 2025

____ Paragraph A ____ Paragraph B ____ Paragraph C ____ Paragraph D

6 a confirmed environmental cause of death for condors living outside captivity

____ Paragraph A ____ Paragraph B ____ Paragraph C ____ Paragraph D

Questions 7–8: Sentence Completion

Complete the sentences below. Choose NO MORE THAN TWO WORDS from the passage for each answer.

7 By 1987, all surviving wild California condors were brought into a captive ____ programme.

Hint: Look at paragraph A for the name of the programme.

8 Between 1992 and 2025, free-flying condors suffered 161 confirmed deaths caused by ____ .

Hint: Write no more than two words directly from paragraph D.

Reading: The California Condor and Conservation

How to use this lesson

Saving the California Condor: How Zoos Help a Giant Bird Fly Free Again

Questions 1–2: True / False / Not Given

Questions 3–4: Multiple Choice

Questions 5–6: Paragraph Matching

Questions 7–8: Sentence Completion

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