Photo: Diego Nahuel for Rewilding Chile
Unusual sighting of a Huemul deer on the Magellan Coast raises hopes of discovering a new subpopulation of this endangered species
The sighting occurred during a scientific expedition conducted by Rewilding Chile in the area that will become the future Cape Froward National Park, located at the southernmost point of the American continent.
On the coastal edge of this future national park, the research team from Rewilding Chile that was gathering data and other information about local wildlife populations had an unexpected encounter during their latest expedition: a young male huemul, possibly displaced by another male, in search of new territories.
The sighting raises hopes of finding a subpopulation of this species in the southernmost region of the American continent. The huemul has been listed as endangered since 1973. The huemul originally inhabited Chile from the O’Higgins region to the Magellan region. A series of threats, particularly habitat fragmentation and degradation, has caused the population to decline to just 1% of its original numbers and its distribution area to shrink by more than 50%. Additionally, the populations are increasingly isolated from each other, exposing them to local extinctions.
“This encounter fills us with joy and at the same time raises many questions: Where does it come from? How many more are there? Where are they located? What is their condition? This young huemul is just the first piece of a large puzzle that we are trying to solve through various exploratory expeditions to the area,” explains Cristián Saucedo, Wildlife Director of Rewilding Chile.
The prestigious scientific journal Ecography has identified the huemul as one of the 20 key species in the world requiring concentrated efforts for ecosystem restoration.
“It is of great importance to carry out large-scale conservation in this territory to ensure the effective and official protection of these huemul subpopulations and the habitats they occupy through a national park,” commented Saucedo. In March of this year, Rewilding Chile signed a protocol agreement with President Boric’s government to create the new Cape Froward National Park.
“It is of great importance to carry out large-scale conservation in this territory to ensure the effective and official protection of these huemul subpopulations and the habitats they occupy through a national park”
The extent of this new protected area includes the incorporation of 9,904 acres of the Cape Froward Protected National Property and 59,612 acres of the Batchelor Protected National Property, which are being added to the 231,024 acres contributed by Rewilding Chile, thanks to the support of its strategic partner and donor Tompkins Conservation and a philanthropic network of donors, including two Chileans. The territory where the future Cape Froward National Park will be established is the southernmost original habitat of the huemul deer.