There were just 22 California condors left in the world in 1987 - all of them in captivity - a species on the brink of extinction. At TEDxDeExtinction, Michael Mace explains the remarkable efforts that have been made to save them and restore a wild population. Conservationists at the San Diego Zoo have managed a successful breeding, immunization and monitoring program, and have been helped by utility companies who have agreed to bury powerlines and utility poles near condor habitats - giving the wild population, now numbering over 200, a fighting chance to survive on their own.

Michael Mace is Curator of Birds for the San Diego Zoo Safari Park. He is responsible for the avian collection and related conservation programs that includes 20 endangered species. He participates in conservation field projects around the world involving endangered and threatened species such as the Andean condor in Colombia, white-bellied heron in Bhutan, southern ground hornbill in South Africa, red-necked ostrich in Niger, Guam rail, light-footed clapper rail in the United States, and the California condor in the United States and Mexico.

To learn more about de-extinction, please visit Revive & Restore (the organizer of TEDxDeExtinction) here: http://longnow.org/revive/

This talk was given at a TEDx event using the TED conference format but independently organized by a local community. Learn more at http://ted.com/tedx