The Santa Barbara Zoo is celebrating International Vulture Awareness Day (IVAD) today, Saturday, Sept. 5, with programs and activities dedicated to some of nature’s most important — and often misunderstood — birds.

From keeper talks and hands-on games and activities to opportunities to connect with conservation partners, visitors will learn why vultures, including California condors, are essential to healthy ecosystems, and how the zoo and its partners are working together to protect one of the world’s most endangered birds.

Vultures are nature’s cleanup crew, consuming carrion and helping recycle nutrients through ecosystems, the zoo said. Their scavenging may also help reduce the spread of bacteria and disease, making these often-overlooked birds an important part of a healthy landscape.

On display at the Santa Barbara Zoo are two very different members of the vulture family: California condors, and Veronica, a 29-year-old turkey vulture.

Found as a chick in Northern California, Veronica was deemed non-releasable after becoming dependent on people during rehabilitation. She has been part of the zoo family since 2007.

Veronica is an enthusiastic participant in training sessions and has developed quite a reputation among the zoo’s staff.

“Veronica has a big personality, and she is incredibly intelligent,” said Maureen Morlock, a Santa Barbara Zoo keeper who works with Veronica. “When she is learning a new behavior, I feel like I can see the wheels turning as she figures it out.

“She is always watching what is happening around her, and I call her my favorite supervisor at the zoo.”

The turkey vulture is one of three vulture species found in North America and is the most commonly seen vulture in the western United States. Their exceptional sense of smell helps them locate carrion, and California condors may follow turkey vultures to a carcass after they discover it.

While turkey vultures are thriving, California condors represent a very different conservation story, the zoo said.

With a wingspan of nearly 10 feet, the critically endangered California condor is North America’s largest soaring land bird.

The long-lived scavenger can soar to heights of 15,000 feet and travel hundreds of miles in search of food. But by the 1980s, only 22 California condors remained in the wild, and the last remaining wild birds were brought into human care as part of an extraordinary effort to prevent the species from becoming extinct.

Today, more than 600 California condors exist, including a growing population in the wild. The Santa Barbara Zoo has been part of that recovery effort for nearly 25 years, becoming an official partner in the California Condor Recovery Program in 2002.

As an AZA-accredited institution since 1982 and a longstanding conservation leader on California’s Central Coast, the Zoo plays an active role in condor conservation.

The California Condor Nest Guarding Program, developed by the Santa Barbara Zoo in partnership with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS) with support from other Recovery Program partners, addresses threats that can cause nest failure, including micro-trash ingestion by chicks.

Conservationists monitor nests and intervene when necessary, helping increase nesting success and giving vulnerable chicks a better chance to survive.

The Santa Barbara Zoo also plays a role in the California Condor Recovery Program’s managed breeding population.

This week, the zoo transferred two condors — one to the Oregon Zoo and one to The Peregrine Fund’s World Center for Birds of Prey in Boise, Idaho — as part of a coordinated effort to strategically pair birds and support future releases.

These exchanges among Recovery Program partners help maintain genetic diversity in the managed population and ensure that condors can contribute to the species’ future in the wild.

“The recovery of the California condor is a reminder that conservation works when people, institutions, and communities come together with urgency and purpose,” said Charles Hopper, president/CEO of the Santa Barbara Zoo.

“For nearly 25 years, the Santa Barbara Zoo has been proud to play a role in this extraordinary effort, from supporting field research and nest monitoring to helping inspire the next generation of conservation leaders,” Hopper said.

It is especially exciting to see the California condor become AZA’s newest SAFE species and to have one of our own conservation biologists, Nadya Seal Faith, selected to co-lead this collaborative effort,” he said.

The zoo’s vulture conservation work extends beyond California condors. Dr. Estelle Sandhaus, vice president of conservation & science, leads AZA’s SAFE African Vulture program, which supports conservation efforts in Kenya, South Africa, and Tanzania.

The efforts include population and colony monitoring, satellite tagging, and rapid response to poisoning threats to protect species such as the critically endangered Rüppell’s vulture.

The zoo said it’s conservation work is paired with an equally important mission: helping people understand why these animals matter and what they can do to protect them.

Through the zoo’s CondorKids curriculum, students learn about the California condor’s near-extinction and the ongoing efforts to rebuild its populations while discovering simple actions they can take to help wildlife.

“When children learn about animals like the California condor, they ask, ‘What can I do?’” said Hopper. “Our job is to connect them to see themselves as part of the conservation story and give them tools that are tangible.

“That is how we build a more hopeful future, not only for condors, but for wildlife around the world. Connection leads to caring, and caring inspires action.”

To help support and learn more about the Zoo’s California condor recovery program, visit https://www.sbzoo.org/california-condor.