The Patagonian huemul (Hippocamelus bisulcus) under captive conditions: past and current experiences

F. VIDAL; JM SMITH-FLUECK,; FLUCK, WT; ARIAS E

Huilo Huilo

Congreso; 7th International Deer Biology Congress; 2010

Huemul (Hippocamelus bisulcus) is a native deer of Patagonia whose endangered status has raised concerns forseveral decades, and yet conservation efforts to reverse this situation have not succeeded for most populations. Captivebreeding projects attempted in the past were short-lived; animals were often lost due to poor methodology or unsanitaryconditions during capture, transport stresses and rudimentary husbandry, and reintroductions could not be realised. Despiteinappropriate capture and transport techniques of the past, a few individuals did make it to captive centres where theymanaged to survive for several years, with a minimum of eight births recorded. Regardless of the successes, it is the pastfailures that impinge upon today’s conservation efforts. In Argentina, a recent financially backed proposal – establishing ahuemul breeding centre and including an in situ reintroduction program – was prevented by the prevailing opinion thatcaptive breeding was neither feasible nor a necessary conservation tool for huemul. In Chile, the Huilo Huilo Foundation wasable to obtain government consent and to establish the only captive breeding project in the last two decades with the mainobjective of reintroducing individuals in the future. Here we present some of the historical accounts to demonstrate thesuitability of the species to captivity.Wethen describe the Chilean semi-captive breeding program (begun in 2005) includingcapture, transport, site selection, construction design and maintenance procedures of the two centres. The first centre hasgrown from an initial two adults to nine individuals. The second centre, which initially served for rehabilitation of an injuredmale, is awaiting arrival of some females. The success of the current program demonstrates that huemul can do well incaptivity, and wherever considered beneficial, could serve as a significant conservation tool for the recovery of the species,inclusive of a research program and reintroductions to qualified sites.