California Condor #199, aka "Go 99!" or "The great one" after Gretsky

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Hatchday: April 8th, 1999 Hatch location San Diego Wild Animal Park Sex: Male Current Status: Partnered with Wild1 (#231) Offspring: Genetic father to #477 Current location: Big Sur, CA

Go 99! was raised using puppets, so he was watched closely due to this non-traditional upbringing. While he was not a glowing example of ideal condor behavior, he did not act differently from the other condors in his release group. He bonded especially closely with the other males his age, Amigo (#204) and Shadow (#209). As he got older, he traveled to the Big Sur backcountry and discovered that he was more interested in female condors than in his old buddies.

He paired with Wild1 (#231), one of our wildest and smartest condors. She has been an excellent influence on Go 99!, and they were the first of our flock to successfully lay a fertile egg (#477), incubate and hatch it, and raise a baby until it could fly.

Our initial expectations of Go 99! were not high, but it turned out that his artificial rearing didn't prevent him from becoming an ideal condor and a great parent. His nickname is something we yelled out in the old days when we saw him doing well in the wild. Many of us have picked him as their favorite, so it seems that everybody loves an underdog who makes good.

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