How a green corridor could save a deer in peril

Only 1,500 huemul remain, but rewilding swathes of land may help the animal that appears on Chile's coat of arms

- Matt Maynard

It is twilight in Las Horquetas valley in Patagonia's northern Aysén region. Several cars have pulled over beneath sandy cliffs on a wide paved road. Just metres away, three deer graze unperturbed in the glow of the car lights.

The Patagonian huemul (Hippocamelus bisulcus), or South Andean deer, is the most endangered hoofed animal in South America. It stands 80-90cm tall with deep inset eyes and furry antlers. Fewer than 1,500 survive today - two-thirds are found in Chile and the remainder in Argentina, where the huemul's principal habitat is lenga forest and scrubland. They exist in fragmented groups of 101 known sub-populations, with 60% of these comprising only 10-20 individuals, and suffer from poor genetic diversity.

The huemul was first brought to the attention of the wider public in Chile in 1834, when the British painter Charles CWood Taylor convinced the government that a creature from the largely unexplored Patagonian territory should accompany the condor in his design for the country's coat of arms. The huemul, "an almost unknown animal", was chosen. It has been officially protected since 2006, when it was given Chilean natural monument status, and in 2010 Chile and Argentina agreed to jointly conserve the deer.