The excitement surrounding word that a condor chick had been born this year in Zion National Park, the first condor born in southern Utah in decades, has been dashed by word that the chick apparently has died.

However, biologists from The Peregrine Fund have confirmed that two California condor chicks have left their nests and taken flight in northern Arizona.

Observations of the condor parents visiting the Utah nest cave suggested all was going well during the six months leading up to fledging, but by late November, a month after the predicted fledge date, biologists noted that something was wrong. The Utah chick quit coming out to the cave opening, and soon after, the parents decreased their visitation to the cave, a release from Zion National Park said. After multiple trips to investigate, biologists concluded that the chick had not survived, it added.

"Although two out of three 2014 condor chicks surviving to fledging remains encouraging, the loss of Utah's first chick is a hard reminder that critters have a tough go of it in the wild. It's just a shame that we weren't able to recover a carcass to examine what might have provided clues as to the cause of death," said Chris Parish, Condor Program Director for The Peregrine Fund, which manages the wild Arizona-Utah flock. 

As for the other two condors now gracing Arizona's skies, both birds appear to be doing well since fledging. Condors, like other wild animals, are most vulnerable in their first few months, which is why condor parents tend to their young for a year after fledging.

There are now 73 condors in the wild in Arizona and Utah, including the two new fledglings. A total of 25 chicks have hatched in the wild since condors were first introduced in Arizona in 1996.

The recovery effort is a cooperative program by federal, state, and private partners, including The Peregrine Fund, Arizona Game and Fish Department, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, Arizona Strip Field Office of the Bureau of Land Management, Grand Canyon and Zion national parks, Utah Division of Wildlife Resources, and Kaibab and Dixie national forests.