Is the main driving force behind the successful introduction of the California condor to the Baja California Mountains in Mexico, where he has managed to establish a growing and healthy population of this species. Trained as a biologist, Juan became a professional mountain climber and rescue speleologist, as well as one of Mexico’s leading experts on birds of prey, with an area of specialization on the golden eagle’s behavior. For several years he worked as a rehabilitator and field manager for the Fundación ARA, in Monterrey Mexico, an NGO fighting for the conservation of golden eagles, peregrine falcons and endangered parrots and macaws. This granted him the necessary experience and knowledge to successfully manage a wild population of condors. A normal day in the life of Juan might look like checking in on a condor chick at its nest in the San Pedro Martyr Sierra, hanging from a cliff one thousand feet high, or guarding the several captive condors in an aviary to protect them from a wildfire that is dangerously approaching the facilities.

Is an environmental warrior trained in biology and chemistry, with a deep understanding of the natural world. Her years of experience and research at the Fundación ARA regarding the reproduction and diet of roughly 90 species of birds prepared Catalina to handle these magnificent scavengers. For over 20 years of research, she has kept a record of the life of each condor. She and her team track the trajectories and geolocation of every single condor each day through GPS devices. Likewise, on a daily basis, she works captures all the information collected from the satellite transmitters in her computer, and prepares reports for government agencies and grant donors. Without her passion, commitment and a wild undertaking to the cause, there would be no concrete results. Besides these outstanding achievements, she is also an amazing photographer. Recently, she captured the unique moment in which a peregrine falcon chased a condor away from its territory, a wonderful image.

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Was the earliest driving force for the comeback of the California condor to the mountains of northern Baja California, Mexico. He was a great adventurer who always sought to challenge possibilities. He led the California condor U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service recovery team and was the program coordinator for the California condor Species Survival Plan. Wallace was also the L.A. Zoo curator of birds and conservation. He also worked at the Zoological Society of San Diego as wildlife scientist in the Applied Animal Ecology Division of CRES (Conservation and Research for Endangered Species). In 1985 he studied the Andean condor in Peru. Mike, as his friends called him, supervised the release of California Condors bred in captivity in the San Pedro Martyr Sierra, in Baja California, Mexico from the earliest beginnings of the program. He was passionate about the reintroduction program and always supported it. He mastered the technique of tagging the condors and taught it patiently to Juan and Catalina. The program owes him a great deal. He died in 2020 with the reassuring certainty that at least 40 California condors were wandering the mountains of Mexico free.