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.