PLEASE DONATE SOME DOLLARS TO THE CAUSE: CLICK HERE
The huemul, a small deer that lives in the forest and mountain environments of southern South America, has been the national symbol of Chile since 1929 but its population is in severe decline. There are now fewer than 2,000 individuals existing in the world – and they need your help.
Despite being prevalent from Central Chile down to the Strait of Magellan 70 to 100 years ago, the huemul was classified by the International Union for Conservation of Nature as an endangered species in 1973 and the deterioration of populations has been directly and indirectly attributed to human causes.
Patagonia is now home to two thirds of the world's remaining huemul population, but these groups are highly fragmented and have regressed for reasons including agricultural activities, domestic livestock, alteration of relationships with natural predators and poaching for meat as dog food or king crab bait.
Recent projects have thrown a new light on the demographics of the huemul populations in the Aysen District, but the lack of accurate information elsewhere currently makes it difficult to implement any conservation plan for this deer along its full distribution range.
“That is why we have set up the Huemul Conservation Project to be our environmental project for this year,” said Wenger Patagonian Expedition Race Director Stjepan Pavicic. “It is crucial to know the remaining huemul populations in other regions of southern Chile so that we can understand their present distribution based on strong scientific data. Only by doing that can we help save them.”
The Magallanes District, through which the race is travelling this year, is home to the most viable populations (those with the biggest potential to survive and grow) due to the area’s remoteness, isolation and harsh climate, but very few field studies have gathered information on the area.
The race has detected huemul in several areas of the Brunswick Peninsula in the past, but this in-depth project will involve at least three work stages. Initial work will be to develop a distribution assessment in the first year of implementation, to establish the location of huemul on the Peninsula.
PLEASE DONATE SOME DOLLARS TO THE CAUSE: CLICK HERE
