Geographical Magazine March 2024 Back Issue

At Geographical we receive many ideas for stories based on the efforts being made to save a particular species from total or local extinction. All are worthy and important projects, and it is not always easy to choose which to focus on. If there is one thing
humans are finally learning, it is that every creature, be it large, cute and ‘charismatic’, as common parlance puts it, or smaller, more hidden and less instantly appealing to human eyes, plays a vital role within its ecosystem. Still, we cannot cover them all.
Mark Stratton’s story about Andean condors (page 56) stood out as a contender for these pages partly because of the sheer majesty of these huge birds and their scenic home (they have been observed to travel 160 kilometres without resorting to a single wingbeat), but also because the last-ditch efforts
to save them reveal the complexity and intricacy of all such conservation programmes. When an initial attempt to release captive-bred birds into the wild failed, the programme coordinators had to rethink their strategy completely. Today, saving animals is about so much more than simply making more and releasing them. The dedicated people involved have to take into account local conditions, customs and attitudes; changing climates; and the differences between captive-bred creatures and those in the wild.