Study and Conservation of Wildlife and Threatened Species
The study of wildlife and threatened species is a line of work aimed at generating evidence on biodiversity, strengthening ecological knowledge of the territory, and supporting conservation decisions with verifiable information. Within this approach, the huemul is a threatened species that plays a central role as an umbrella species, as its protection helps safeguard entire ecosystems and multiple species associated with its habitat. Since 2019, Puelo Patagonia has been carrying out technical work to understand the conservation status of the huemul in northern Patagonia, particularly in the Puelo River Basin, through camera-trap monitoring and fieldwork. This effort arose in response to the lack of information on its presence in the area and led to the first documentation of the huemul in the district of Cochamó, providing key evidence for understanding its distribution and the importance of the territory as a biological corridor.
Building on this sustained work, monitoring has expanded to various sectors of the mountain range, generating information about other poorly known and threatened species and strengthening a conservation strategy based on habitat protection. During 2025, efforts were focused on areas within Fundo Puchegüín, where the presence of a huemul subpopulation was confirmed through camera traps, representing the northernmost known record of the species in Chilean Patagonia. This finding reinforces the importance of the area as a refuge for rich biodiversity and provides technical background to support the protection of the territory, contributing to the consolidation of a large-scale biological corridor between Chile and Argentina.
«I knew huemuls existed here, from what people who have lived here for a long time had once seen, maybe a footprint here or there, but it is very difficult to spot them. It has now been confirmed that they are here, and that is excellent news.”
Víctor Masías
Resident of the mountainous region of the district of Cochamó
Monitoring the huemul in the municipality of Cochamó since 2018
From confirming its presence to understanding how it moves
The First Scientific Records
An alliance between Puelo Patagonia, Tompkins Conservation, and the National Geographic Society achieved the first scientific documentation of the huemul in the Puelo River Basin. Camera traps recorded adult males and females, as well as nursing fawns.
A Subpopulation
More than 1,500 days of camera-trap sampling made it possible to estimate the presence of between 17 and 22 individuals across approximately 3,500 hectares: the first updated information in more than 23 years.
A Survey Without Findings
Four months of monitoring in a new valley yielded no images of huemuls. Negative results are also information: they help determine where the species is and where it is not.
Huemuls Within Puchegüín
Eighty-eight images and videos confirmed between six and eight distinct individuals — adult males, one juvenile male, and one adult female — representing the northernmost known record of the species in Chilean Patagonia.
The First Evidence of a Corridor
Fifty-two records made it possible to identify 11 distinct huemuls and track the same male between two valleys separated by six kilometers, providing the first direct evidence that the species moves between areas of Puchegüín.
Explore our Huemul Observations
When We Began Fieldwork and What the Cameras Observed
