Huemul Deer Monitoring Project

One of the primary reasons for expanding protected habitat in the Chacabuco Valley is the critically important population of huemul deer that occupies the valley and neighboring Tamango Huemul Reserve. The huemul deer is literally on the edge of extinction. The Valle Chacabuco/Tamango population is an estimated 120 individuals, ten percent of the total population left on Earth. With the species’ fate hanging in the balance, it is crucial to understand the deer’s ecology and threats. CP is funding and managing a program to track adults and fawns through radio telemetry in order to learn how they use the landscape, and can best be protected.

Puma Monitoring Project

The first effort of its kind in Chile, our team of biologists and park rangers are tracking pumas with satellite collars. The resulting data should give us a good indication of what impact, if any, predation by wild cats is having on the endangered huemul deer. Our head tracker was for many years a puma hunter, eliminating the cats as a threat to livestock. Today, Arcilio is proudly tracking pumas to ensure their protection and helping preserve the huemul population.