Recovering the rhea in Patagonia National Park: 10 years of collaborative public-private work

With rain at times and in the middle of the Patagonian steppe of the Aysén region, in the presence of various guests and representatives of the communities of Cochrane and Chile Chico, 23 baby rheas were released into the wild, a giant flightless bird in Chile, which is the protagonist of a program for the recovery of its population in this area.

These young were flown from the Quimán Reserve in Futrono, Los Ríos Region, to the Entrada Baker airport in January and February, where they were received and transferred to Rewilding Chile’s Ñandú Conservation Breeding Centre.

It is precisely in the Chacabuco Valley, where the release took place, that extensive sheep ranching was developed for almost 100 years, with hundreds of thousands of head of cattle impacting the native flora, segregating land with kilometers of wire fences and thus reducing the original population of rheas in this area to only 20 individuals.

"In this release, we see 23 little chats running around the Patagonian steppe, free, with the clear objective of reinforcing the local population of rheas, but we can also see the final process of a long road of releases, which year after year makes us advance a little in the re-establishment of an important member of the Aysen fauna. We have a big challenge, we know that, and we will continue with these efforts until we see the rhea running among coirones and neneos again"

Cristián Saucedo, Rewilding Chile's Wildlife Director

Today, thanks to the collaborative public-private work of the teams from the Quimán Reserve, Conaf, SAG, Carabineros de Chile, and Rewilding Chile, Patagonia National Park is recovering its habitats with new rheas running around this pampa.

For Cristián Saucedo, Rewilding Chile’s Wildlife Director, this release, the most numerous so far, is a graphic example of the efforts and perseverance to recover the fauna of this national park.

“In this release, we see 23 little chats running around the Patagonian steppe, free, with the clear objective of reinforcing the local population of rheas, but we can also see the final process of a long road of releases, which year after year makes us advance a little in the re-establishment of an important member of the Aysen fauna. We have a big challenge, we know that, and we will continue with these efforts until we see the rhea running among coirones and neneos again”, Saucedo pointed out.

Foto: Diego Ramos para Rewilding Chile

Foto: Rigoberto Jofré para Rewilding Chile

Foto: Rigoberto Jofré para Rewilding Chile

Foto: Diego Ramos para Rewilding Chile

Foto: Rigoberto Jofré para Rewilding Chile

Foto: Diego Ramos para Rewilding Chile

Foto: Rigoberto Jofré para Rewilding Chile

Foto: Rigoberto Jofré para Rewilding Chile

Foto: Diego Ramos para Rewilding Chile

Foto: Rigoberto Jofré para Rewilding Chile

A decade of recovering the rhea in Patagonia National Park

After the end of cattle ranching in the Chacabuco Valley in 2008, the ecosystems began to recover little by little, and so did the frequency of guanacos, pumas, and rheas, the latter in a critical state that made action pertinent.

This is why the Ñandú Conservation and Recovery Programme began in 2014, with a first nursery in Puesto Ñandú, on the border with Argentina, where the main breeding center for this species in the Aysén Region is now located.