A review of introduced cervids in Chile

FLUCK, WT; SMITH-FLUECK, JM

Huilo Huilo

Congreso; 7th International Deer Biology Congress; 2010

We review the extent of exotic deer distributions in Chile, which are encountered in all provinces,including Tierra del Fuego, except for possibly Region III: many deer are contained in >100enclosures. Red deer (Cervus elaphus) by far have the largest feral population of exotic cervids insouthern South America, providing source animals that can easily cross the Andes between Chile andArgentina. Red deer were introduced from Europe to the central valley of Chile in 1928. Since the1940s, feral populations have expanded from Argentina into Chile, by way of easily accessible, lowelevationmountain passes of the Andes, accompanied by further direct shipments from Argentina. Thearea occupied by 1990 was about 3400 km², but this increased to 7700 km² by 2002. The overall areainvaded by 2002 was between 37°42'S-54°55'S and 73°36'W-69°50'W (Argentina and Chile combined,though not contiguous). Negative ecological impact from red deer in Chile have been described since1981, and red deer figure in the Chilean Pest Manual. A conservative rate for the red deer invasion is 1km/year, but likely is more rapid where habitat modifications facilitate movement. The pre-Columbiannorthern limit of the native cervid huemul (Hippocamelus bisulcus) was 30°S, and as red deer haveoccupied all habitat types currently used by huemul, they could thus spread >750 km further north. Tothe south, all areas are suitable for red deer. Invasion patterns will depend on additional intentionalintroduction and enclosures on both side of the Andes due to the omnipresent risk of escapes. Fallow,axis and roe deer (Dama dama, Axis axis, Capreolus capreolus, respectively) also have beenintroduced to Chile and occur in many enclosures. Fallow deer recently escaped on Chiloé Island,became established and raise concerns due to the potential negative impacts on several endemic specieson the island. The striking lack of information on feral deer may relate to the policy and laws aboutfirearms and restricted access to hunting areas, resulting in the apparent absence of popular hunting,which could be a potential tool should the invasion continue and lead to future deer overabundance.