Sister School Project donates digital camera

With support from the Pinnacles Partnership, the Escuela Ceferino Namuncurá in Argentina now has a digital camera for the school! This donation comes from funds for the Sister School project, a project born out of the Sister Park agreement between Pinnacles National Monument and Parque Nacional Quebrada del Condorito. The camera will allow students at Ceferino Namuncurá to send photos and video to students in their sister school, the Hollister Dual Language Academy in California. For more information on the Sister School Project, see the previous posts.Students and teachers were thrilled to receive the camera and they all send their heartfelt thanks to those involved with the donation. They immediately began using the camera to take photos of the students which will be included in a video they are making for the Hollister Dual Language Academy. See some of the students photos and a short video message from a Ceferino Namuncurá student.

Guanaco Reintroduction Project

Notes from the field: Sara Reid

26 guanacos (Lama guanicoe) arrived in the PNQC this week and are safely situated in a newly constructed corral where they await their release. The Guanaco Reintroduction Program is one of the main conservation projects at the PNQC and park staff, especially German Jaacks, and a team of volunteers from the Defensa Verde, have made a huge effort to reestablish this native herbivore in the Sierra Grande mountains of Córdoba.

The guanaco is a wild relative of the llama native to South America. It is about four feet tall at the shoulder and is a cinnamon brown color. Guanacos are social creatures and usually form groups of up to ten females and a dominant male. They live in a variety of habitats, from extremely dry deserts to highlands grasslands. They are highly valued for the quality of their fiber, but in PNQC they are more desirable for the ecosystem services they provide.

The goal of the guanaco reintroduction project at PNQC is to restore an important part of the grassland food chain. The guanaco is a native herbivore that disappeared from the Pampa de Achala due to hunting and displacement by cattle. When the national park was created the majority of the cattle were removed and without herbivores the ecosystem is missing an element of the food chain. In a grassland landscape, the guanaco plays an important role as a low impact, native herbivore by dispersing seeds, fertilizing soil, and maintaining patches of mosaic landscape.

The guanaco reintroduction at PNQC began in March of 2007 with 50 wild guanacos captured in Patagonia and brought to the PNQC. In December 2007 park managers brought 60 more guanacos to reinforce the population. Only about 25% of the 2007 guanacos became successfully established in the park. The stress of the journey, predation by puma, insufficient adjustment time and a failure to develop social groups all created challenges for the guanacos. Now, in 2011, 26 new guanacos have arrived, again with the goal of boosting guanaco numbers to achieve a stable population.

This time around the guanacos have a new, solid corral that will keep the pumas out. They will spend more time in the corral, between 30-45 days, and this should give them more time to form social alliances. Guanacos from the first group released in 2007 have already made their way to the corral to check out their new neighbors. In December a new group of guanacos will be introduced to the park and the guanaco reintroduction will continue until the population

reaches a self sustaining number. Biologists and park staff will monitor the guanacos and track their reestablishment in the Pampa de Achala.

Notes From the Field

11/11/11

Notes From the Field: Sara Reid

The Sister Park project and the Pan American Partnership in Condor Restoration continues to grow as ongoing relationships are strengthened and new exchanges take place. I am grateful for the opportunity to spend the month of November visiting the Parque Nacional Quebrada del Condorito (PNQC) on behalf of Pinnacles National Monument as (PNM) an American Conservation Experience (ACE) Intern. I have received an enthusiastic welcome from our Sister Park and am pleased that the chances to share experiences and knowledge with our Argentine park partners are endless and mutually fruitful. Whether we are on the trail, in the office, sharing mate or making dinner, there is constant conversation and exchange of information related to our national parks and lived experiences in Argentina and the United States.

After hearing descriptions of the PNQC, it is thrilling to be in the park and see the landscape and resources with my own eyes. I realize all I can give is another description, but still I’d like to try and paint a mental picture of this impressive landscape. The PNQC encompasses 92, 328 acres, with an additional 290,190 acres of state hydrologic reserve bordering the park. From the park offices in the town of Villa Carlos Paz you climb from the valley bottom up to the Pampa de Achala at 6,500 feet. Pampa means flat grasslands, and this is what you find at the top of the Sierra Grande range where the PNQC is located. Native bunch grasses (Festuca sp. and Poa sp.) stretch as far as the eye can see, interrupted by outcrops of sparkling granite and quartz. In this respect the landscape is similar to Pinnacles, with very few trees, lots of rocks, and low vegetation. Interspersed in the grasses, especially in the rocky areas, one finds native bushes (Berberis ruscifolia, Heterothalamus alienus, Baccharis sp., and Mintostachys sp.) barrel cactuses, and small clumps of wildflowers that are beginning to bloom. Many small streams and the mighty Condorito River cut the landscape and create riparian habitats where one finds the two species of tree in PNQC—the tabaquillo (Polylepis australis) and the maitén (Maytenus boaria). The Pampa de Achala is a unique meeting place where Polylepis, whose range extends north through the Andes, and the Maytenus, whose range stretches south to Patagonia, can be seen growing together.

This area of Argentina is similar to California in that it has a long dry season followed by a wet season. The dry, winter season lasts from April thru September, and the wet summer season is from October to April. Currently, in the middle of the Argentine spring, the hillsides are turning green and brief storms are blowing through the Pampa de Achala, bringing wind, rain and lightening. During my first week here I have been stationed almost exclusively up in the park. Living in the park is similar to living in Pinnacles—you only get cell service in a few places, you are an hour away from town, you live with an extended park family, and two steps out your front door you are confronted with sweeping landscapes and natural solitude. Being in the park I have seen a lot of wildlife. Wild guinea pigs are constantly whistling and scurrying across the pampa. The Achala green lizard (Prystidactilus achalensis) is easy to spot sunning itself on the rocks, and one must step carefully to avoid the yarará (Bothrops ammodytoides), a small poisonous snake. The Achala red fox (Pseudalopex culpaeus subsp. smithersi) made a quick appearance, and more than once I have seen puma, or mountain lion scat on the trail.

The black-chested buzzard eagle is a common sight, as is the brightly colored loyca (Sturnella loyca subsp. obscura), and there are at least 11 endemic bird species and subspecies found in the park. Of course, one of the most impressive sights in the PNQC is the Andean condor, flying free over the canyons and rocky outcrops of the park. I will write more about this soon!