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SALT LAKE CITY — Andy, a popular fixture at Salt Lake City's Tracy Aviary for six decades, has died at the age of 64, aviary officials said.
The Andean condor's keeper, Helen Dishaw, found the bird dead Thursday morning. It's believed the bird died in his sleep of natural causes.
"Walking with a condor is an unforgettable experience. I count myself truly the most fortunate person to have had the honor of walking alongside my friend Andy every day," Dishaw said in a statement. "It is a cherished memory that I'm glad we were able to share with so many. His legacy will live on in the hearts and memories of those who knew him, and he will be forever missed."
Andy hatched at the San Diego Zoo in 1959, bred as a part of the zoo's program to help repopulate the threatened species, Dishaw explained to KSL.com in an interview ahead of Andy's 60th birthday celebration in 2019. While the San Diego Zoo did send some birds in the program back to the wild in South America, it transferred Andy to the Tracy Aviary in 1960, where he spent the rest of his life.
Aviary officials ultimately designated a special section for the bird in its northwest corner, using him as an ambassador for the role that his species — and other vultures — plays in the global ecosystem. Visitors to the zoo — and to Liberty Park — could often find him perched at the top of his exhibit.
He even gained a sizeable social media following with a Facebook page that garnered more than 20,000 fans. The page shared photos of Andy, especially when he wandered around the aviary grounds, a regular practice that Dinshaw started in 2011.
Andy was also photographed in National Geographic and "immortalized" in other mediums, such as oil paintings, sculptures, apparel and even a Café Ibis coffee blend, aviary officials said.
"He was well known to condor lovers around the world and received hundreds of birthday cards and greetings from his fans each year," they added, in a statement.
Andean condors typically live up to about 50 years in the wild and up to about 75 years in captivity, though the oldest known was 79 years, according to Animal Diversity Web. Given Andy's popularity over the years, officials added Thursday that they plan to have a celebration to remember him "in the coming weeks."
