What Is The National Animal Of Chile

The huemul deer (Hippocamelus bisulcus), likewise known equally the Due south Andean deer, is the iconic fauna of Chile. A huemul even appears alongside the condor in the country'south coat of arms, and they were named a natural national monument in 2006. Inconversable and unassuming, spotting a huemul during a wildlife safari in Torres del Paine National Park is a existent, once-in-a-blueish-moon treat for any visitor, photographer or zoologist. And all the same, every bit is the fate which has befallen and then many of Patagonia's native four-legged residents, the huemul is now tragically in danger of extinction.

The huemel represents 'razón' (reason) and the condor 'fuerza' (force) in the Chilean coat of arms

Once a common inhabitant of both the Chilean and Argentinian sides of the Andean mountain range, huemul territory used to stretch from Santiago right downwardly to the Straits of Magellan, but it is now apace shrinking. There are an estimated 2,000 left in the wild, with roughly 1,500 in Chile, and 500 or so wandering the mountains of Argentine republic.

Declared officially endangered past the IUCN Reddish List of Threatened Species, our brusque-legged and stocky friend is generally a coffee colour. Its coat is thick, dense, and ever and then slightly oily to enable the huemul to swim with ease through the dank glacial lakes and lagoons of Patagonia and dry out off quickly later on. The hair fibres of the coat are likewise hollow, providing the huemul with some much needed insulation when going for an icy dip. The huemul is the largest deer native to Republic of chile and, at one metre high, it towers over other Chilean cervines such every bit the taruca and the pudú.

The majestic antlers of the male person change every yr and are their main weapon of seduction when information technology comes to finding a mate. The huemul also has ears upward to twenty-five centimetres long, enabling them to listen out carefully for potential puma predators.

Known for their shyness and docility, one of the primary reasons the huemul is so notoriously hard to spot is its penchant for solitude - they usually live either completely alone or in groups of no more than two or 3. In the past, the huemul was frequently erroneously depicted as a horse in reproductions of the Chilean coat of arms. At the fourth dimension, the only available information nearly the elusive huemul were vague, unclear reports from unimaginative explorers, who could just draw the huemul every bit smaller than a horse...

Today, huemules are imperilled for many reasons, including illegal hunting, attacks from domestic dogs, pumas and foxes, and the onset of diseases transmitted by livestock. Mining and energy development projects planned in Patagonia also threaten to flood the huemul homeland. The introduction of non-native deer species, such as the ruby deer, and the practice of farmers allowing their cattle to roam the natural habitat of the huemul, and graze greedily on their favourite vegetation, has besides contributed to their refuse.

In 2010, the 'Plan Nacional de Conservación del Huemul' was launched by the Chilean government in order to study and analyse the reasons huemul populations are plummeting, and to try to introduce more huemules into the wild to boost numbers and regional biodiversity. In 2005, the Huilo Huilo Organisation in Valdivia launched a convenance scheme to tackle the result and, by the finish of the twelvemonth, the organisers were thrilled to have heard the pitter-patter of tiny hooves for the first time.

Ever since, the arrangement has been standing with its programme of semi-controlled reproduction. The next pace is to introduce the footling ones slowly into the wild, post-obit their progress closely for at least the following two years so as to ensure they are adapting well to their natural habitat. Radio transmission collars will enable conservationists to continue an eye on the latest arrivals in the Patagonian wilderness, and fingers are crossed that this initiative volition mark a change for the better in the plight of the huemul.

In 2010. the Chilean and Argentinian governments signed theSouth Andean Huemul Memorandum of Understanding, pledging to work together to ameliorate the condition of the huemul in the wild. The 2015 opening of Parque Patagonia, a new national park comprising 200,000 acres of land in the Chacabuco Valley, is as well a promising step towards protecting the region's threatened biodiversity, including the endangered huemul.

The future is certainly looking brighter for the huemul, and conservationists hope these placid animals are being drawn back from the brink of extinction. Yous tin can see the gentle and gambolling huemules in their beautiful native Chilean Patagonia in this video.

As Cristián Saucedo from the Fundación Parque Patagonia points out during the brusk moving-picture show, if the huemules have disappeared from a place, and so something bad has surely happened there. If Chile's national beast has been driven from its natural domicile and is in danger of extinction, this is surely a sign that things are not right. The time has come to safeguard the precious animals of Patagonia, if just to brand sure that Chile does non take to find a new national animal to brandish proudly in its coat of arms!

Spot a huemuel for yourself on a Patagonian take chances! Get in touch at reservations@cascada.travel.

Source: https://www.cascada.travel/blog/the-huemul-chile-s-national-animal

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