[Animals] Huemul was run over in the Cerro Castillo National Park

[FNX Magokiler]

It is the third specimen of this species that dies in the same circumstances in the last 12 months

A call to caution and to reduce speed were made by the park rangers of the Cerro Castillo National Park after the run over of a two-year-old huemul that died in that place.

This is the third death by running over a specimen of the species that has occurred in the last 12 months due to the recklessness of drivers who travel along the southern highway that crosses the Protected Wilderness Area.

"We started this year with a new run over of a huemul. There have already been three species run over in the last 12 months.

This was a female of approximately two years of age. She suffered a very important injury to her spine, her vertebrae were compressed and she was left with irreparable damage to the marrow. As a result of this and taking care of the animal's suffering, we had to make the difficult decision of sacrifice," said Matías Vial, regional director of the Agricultural and Livestock Service (SAG).

 

 

"This is how extreme the end of this story is. She was a two-year-old huemule whose genetic value is invaluable. She is a huemule that did not manage to have offspring, we could not have a new generation of huemules. It is a loss that goes to carry the po[CENSORED]tion of Aysén forever.

She was in perfect health, she was a 100 percent healthy huemula, of reproductive age," added Vial.

Between 2017 and 2021, after an intense awareness campaign, it had been possible to avoid being run over by huemules in the Cerro Castillo National Park, where the biological corridors of the species were cut with the construction of the Carretera Austral.

From Conaf they reminded residents and visitors that between Laguna Chiguay and Las Horquetas is a contemplative road, where it is mandatory to comply with speed restrictions in order to react to huemules on the route and thus avoid causing more damage to this endangered species.

 

https://www.cooperativa.cl/noticias/pais/region-de-aysen/huemul-murio-atropellado-en-el-parque-nacional-cerro-castillo/2022-03-18/141856.html