Guanaco Conservation, Rural People and Sustainable Livestock Management in Northern Patagonia

MARULL, CAROLINA; MEDINA, JULIA; JUAN, ERNESTO; PERASSI, RAQUEL; BOLGERI, MARÍA JOSÉ; HEIDEL, LARA; RAGO, VIRGINIA; RADOVANI, NATALIA; GONZALEZ, ALEJANDRO; COLOMBO, VALERIA; FUNES, MARTÍN; UHART, MARCELA; NOVARO, ANDRÉS

Puerto Iguazú

Conferencia; 59th Annual International Conference - Wildlife Disease Association; 2010

Wildlife Diseases Association

<!-- @page { margin: 2cm } P { margin-bottom: 0.21cm; direction: ltr; color: #000000; widows: 2; orphans: 2 } P.western { font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt; so-language: es-ES } P.cjk { font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt } P.ctl { font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt; so-language: ar-SA } A:link { color: #0000ff } --> WCS has been working in Northern Patagonia for 20 years, during the last years we design a biological corridor (Guanaco Corridor) between 2 provincial reserves a fin de restablecer las poblaciones de guanacos, recuperar la conectividad entre las mismas y mantener sus migraciones hoy perdidas due principally to habitat degradation and competition with livestock Since 2005, we are working with goat herders to reduce their threats to wildlife and minimize wildlife-human conflict. Our team of wildlife biologists and veterinarians has worked with goat herders in the Guanaco Corridor to improve goat husbandry through herd health screenings and range carrying capacity, reduce predation losses and minimize impact of live shearing of wild guanacos. We are teaching and assisting goat herders to mantener la salud de los piños aplicando calendarios sanitarios, adjust stocking rates by produce alternative livestock products, such as cashmere from goats and la venta de animales improductivos, the use of locally-bred guard dogs for minimize conflicts with wild carnivores and build capacity to conduct ecologically sustainable live shearing aplicando conceptos de Animal Welfare We are working on pilot projects to demonstrate the benefits of having smaller, healthier and more productive stocks, which will simultaneously benefit people, wildlife and habitats.