The Huemul
The huemul deer (Hippocamelus bisulcus), also known as the South Andean deer, is the iconic animal of Chile. A huemul even appears alongside the condor in the country’s coat of arms, and they were named a natural national monument in 2006.
Once a common inhabitant of both the Chilean and Argentinian sides of the Andean mountain range, huemul territory used to stretch from Santiago right down to the Straits of Aysen and Magellan. Its original distribution has been reduced dramatically. The species lives in isolated and fragmented areas of Andean Patagonian forest and periglacial areas, both in protected areas and on private and publicly owned properties. There are an estimated 2,000 left in the wild, with roughly 1,500 in Chile, and 500 or so wandering the mountains of Argentina.
Its predators are responsible for its rapidly declining population
Predators of the huemul include pumas, culpeo foxes and domestic dogs. However, by far its most significant predator has been humans. Since settlers arrived in Patagonia in the 19th-century, they have played a fundamental role in seriously reducing the global population of this species.
Protecting the South Andean huemul has finally become a priority
It is only since 2010 that both Chile and Argentina have taken to work cooperatively to prevent the tiny population of South Andean huemul from dwindling any further.
Measures aimed at addressing illegal hunting and habitat degradation, amongst other critical threats, have been introduced to tackle the issue, and both countries hope to bring this emblematic creature back from the brink
of extinction.
"If we can teach people about wildlife, they will be touched. Share my wildlife with me. Because humans want to save things that they love".
Steve Irwin
Education is the Most Powerful weapon which you can use to change the world
Nelson Mandela
