Conservation Efforts Save Endangered Patagonian Deer From Extinction, Study Shows

An engendered type of South American deer has reportedly made a comeback from the near brink of extinction thanks to successful conservation efforts, a new study reveals.

The South Andean deer, also known as the Huemul, is a species of deer only found in the Patagonia region at the southern tip of South America. Huemul make their home across a range of difficult habitats, from periglacial scrubland to low bluffs and other rocky areas. The animal is iconic in Chilean society, appearing on the country's coat of arms and being classified as a "natural national monument."

Huemul were previously found over much of southwestern South America, but their numbers reportedly dropped because of hunting from cattle farmers releasing their herds to feed on swaths of vegetation in the deer's territory, depleting food supplies.

By controlling cattle farming and policing to prevent poaching in the Bernardo O'Higgins National Park - Chilie's largest protected area, a vast "natural Eden" covering 35,260 square kilometers (13,600 square miles) - conservation efforts have allowed the Huemul to return to areas of natural habitat from which it has reportedly disappeared.

"National parks are at the heart of modern conservation, but there has to be an investment in management and protection on the ground. You can't just have a 'paper park', where an area is ring-fenced on a map but physically ignored," said Cristóbal Briceño, a researcher from Cambridge's Department of Archaeology and Anthropology, who co-authored the study.

"Our results suggest that synergistic conservation actions, such as cattle removal and poaching control, brought about by increased infrastructure, can lead to the recovery of species such as the threatened."

A national symbol that features on the Chilean coat-of-arms, Huemul deer are estimated to have suffered reductions of 99 per cent in size since the 19th century, according to the International Union for the Conservation of Nature, which still classifies the Huemul as "endangered."

The study is published in the journal Oryx.