A young California condor from the L.A. Zoo had been flying freely for only three months when he died after ingesting a lead pellet from an air gun.

A California condor hatched and raised at the Los Angeles Zoo has died from lead poisoning just months after being released into the wild, a Northern California native tribe has announced.

Last year was an exceptional milestone for the Central California condor flock ... juvenile releases and eight condor deaths, bringing the total of free-flying condors up to 100.

But the California Condor Recovery Program successfully bred the animals back from the brink. As a part of that program, researchers collected DNA samples from the birds to gain insights into the ...