Conservation status of the last remaining Patagonian huemul, Hippocamelus bisulcus, in southern Argentina and Chile

SMITH-FLUECK JM; FLUCK, WT

Beijing

Otro; Colloquia Animal Ecology and Conservation Biology; 2014

Institute of Zoology, Chinese Academy of Sciences

AbstractLevel of protection: huemul was declared endangered by IUCN (1973); is in Appendix I of the Convention of International Trade of Endangered Species (CITES); in Argentina is declared Monumento Natural Nacional (Law 24.702); and it is in the ?red list books? of Argentina and Chile.    Current distribution: it occurs along1850 km Andes mountains; there are 350-500 deer left in Argentina and ca. 1000 in Chile; they are split into >100 subpopulations; and globally there is only one captive population (12 individuals).    Current and past status: the number has decreased significantly since the arrival of Europeans (by >99%); the current area occupied is less than 50% than that of early 1900s; and they live mostly in small fragmented populations.    Level of protection in Argentina: there are six National Parks created in the 20th century, and all contained huemul; today only 5 parks contain huemul; within these 5 parks, most huemul populations are small and fragmented; some believe that a few sub-populations are improving but there is no proof; the Alerces NP and Glaciar NP have most signs of huemul and are least disturbed.    Most subpopulations persist mainly in marginal sites: however, a common interpretation is that because huemul survive today in high elevation refuges, these sites are optimal primary habitats. Several lines of evidence instead show that huemul survive today in high elevations due to: remoteness, warmer winters, as their loss of the tradition to migrate down in winter is not affected by climate. The nutritionally marginal sites best explain the low recruitment rates preventing recovery, deficient antler development in most subpopulations, and high prevalence of osteopathology.    We show that the marginality of currently used habitat is likely mainly related to nutritional constraints, particularly selenium and iodine deficiency.