Guanaco in Chile.
- Through this initiative, international organizations and organizations from Argentina, Bolivia, Chile, Paraguay, and Peru join forces to generate awareness about the important role of this iconic camelid and the need to protect the areas where it lives and passes through.
- In 2024, International Guanaco Day will focus on connectivity and ecological integrity, highlighting the importance of promoting networks of protected areas interconnected by wildlife corridors.
Read in Spanish here: El 23 de agosto se celebra por primera vez el Día Internacional del Guanaco
Images available here
Guanaco in Chile. Photo credit: M Guerrero Gatica
Newswise — New York, August 22, 2024 – This Friday, August 23, marks the first celebration of International Guanaco Day, a celebratory day agreed upon by 40 governmental, academic, Indigenous, and civil society organizations, mainly from the countries inhabited by this native herbivore (Lama guanicoe) that connects landscapes and cultures in South America.
Over the past 200 years, the guanaco population has decreased from around 20 million individuals to approximately 2.5 million. Currently, it is found in Argentina, Bolivia, Chile, Paraguay, and Peru, but its conservation status differs between countries. The largest number of guanacos are concentrated in southern Argentina and Chile, whereas its populations in Bolivia, Paraguay, and Peru are small and isolated, running the risk of local extinction, as occurred in Ecuador.
The year 2024 is vital for awareness and conservation of the species. The United Nations designated it as the International Year of Camelids to highlight the contribution of camelids to food security, nutrition, and economic growth, as well as their cultural relevance to many communities around the world. Guanacos in particular were also included in Appendix II of the Convention on the Conservation of Migratory Species (CMS) during its COP14 in Uzbekistan in February 2024, encouraging range country governments to implement, improve, and coordinate their management plans for the species in the region.
Organizations around the world joined the #GUANACONNECT campaign (www.guanaconecta.com/en) and agreed on a date to generate awareness about the importance of the ecological role of this wild herbivore and its cross-border migration processes. The month of August was chosen to honor guanacos near the time of the Pachamama festival, which is celebrated in Andean regions.
Connectivity and Ecological Integrity for Guanaco Conservation
Each year, International Guanaco Day will represent an opportunity to provide information and generate awareness about a challenge for guanaco conservation. In 2024, the focus will be on the connectivity and ecological integrity of the environments guanacos use throughout their life cycles.
Guanacos require extensive and connected habitats to feed, reproduce, and avoid predators. Besides contributing to the conservation of their species, their movements are part of processes that allow pastures to regenerate and soils to sequester carbon, performing a key role in mitigation and adaptation to climate change and promoting the integrity of the ecosystem.
The migrations of the guanaco, like those of other large herbivores, are one of the most endangered ecological processes worldwide. Causes include habitat degradation caused by overgrazing and the oil, energy and mining industries; the construction of barriers such as fences, roads, and urban developments; and the scarcity of food and water due to the climate crisis.
Today, the species’ distribution has been reduced to 40% of the area it occupied in the past. And though guanacos face different situations in each country, their conservation must be addressed regionally, because throughout most of their range, their survival may be threatened by the restriction of their seasonal migrations.
According to IUCN criteria, the status of guanacos in Peru, Bolivia, and Paraguay is categorized as “Critically Endangered.” In Chile, in a large part of its territory they are defined as "Vulnerable," except for the regions of Aysén and Magallanes where it is considered "Least Concern.” In Argentina, though they are considered of “Least Concern” and they have recovered in some regions of Patagonia in recent decades, their population is fragmented into mostly small and relatively isolated units.
For this reason, to support their natural seasonal and dispersal routes, it is necessary to create a network of protected areas interconnected by wildlife corridors, thereby maintaining ecological and evolutionary processes in the vast ranges where guanacos roam.
Protecting the Largest Migration of the Species
The longest and most abundant migration of guanacos currently occurs in the Payunia Natural Protected Area, Mendoza Province, Argentina, in which between 25 and 40 thousand individuals travel 150 kilometers a year between their summer and winter ranges, according to telemetry studies and seasonal surveys carried out by WCS Argentina and the National Scientific and Technical Research Council (CONICET).
Strengthening this and other protected areas, such as Auca Mahuida in Neuquén Province, is crucial for conserving the seasonal movements of the species. To this end, local and national governments, civil society, local communities, and the private sector have collaborated to implement various initiatives. These include incorporating lands into the public domain within Payunia to strengthen the role of the state in protecting wildlife and ecosystem services, updating the management plans for protected areas with community involvement, reducing and preventing poaching, and implementing livestock management measures on the part of local producers who contribute to grassland regeneration and coexistence with wildlife.
One of the next challenges in the region will be improving the connectivity of this species beyond these nature reserves by promoting the official implementation of the Payunia-Auca Mahuida Guanaco Corridor. Conserving this ancient migration can serve as a reference point for preserving this endangered ecological process in other locations across South America.
#GuanaConnect, a Movement for Guanacos
International Guanaco Day is being promoted by international institutions such as the Andean Cat Alliance, Born Free Foundation, Conservation Without Borders, the Convention on the Conservation of Migratory Species of Wild Animals (CMS), the Ecoflix, the Humane Society International, the South American Camelid Expert Group, Panthera, Pew, and Wildlife Conservation Society; by institutions from Argentina such as the Mendoza government, Institute of Regional Ecology (IER-CONICET-UNT), Neuquén Protected Natural Areas, the Applied Ecology Center of Neuquén, the Environmental and Natural Resources Foundation, Pumawaka and Wildlife Foundation Argentina; from Bolivia, the Ministry of Water and the Environment, the municipalities of Cotagaita and Tupiza, Museum of Natural History, National Museum of Natural History, PROMETA - Environmental Protection of Tarija and Vice Ministry of Environment, Biodiversity, Climate Change, Forest Management and Development; from Chile, the Ministry of the Environment, the National Forestry Corporation, and Kintu; from Paraguay, the Ministry of Environment and Sustainable Development, the Association of Biology Students of Paraguay, the Association of Environmental Engineering Students, the Paraguayan Organization for Conservation and Sustainable Development, the Paraguayan Network of Youth for Biodiversity, the Paraguayan Association of Mammalogy, Defensores del Chaco National Park, the College of Exact and Natural Sciences of the National University of Asunción, the Volunteer Park Rangers, and the Ministry of Agrarian Development and Irrigation; and from Peru, Nodo Conservation, Ministry of Agrarian Development and Irrigation, and the National Forestry and Wildlife Service.
More Information:
#GuanaConnect www.guanaconecta.com/en
International Year of Camelids https://www.fao.org/camelids-2024/en
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Wildlife Conservation Society (WCS)
WCS combines the power of its zoos and an aquarium in New York City and a Global Conservation Program in more than 50 countries to achieve its mission to save wildlife and wild places. WCS runs the world’s largest conservation field program, protecting more than 50 percent of Earth’s known biodiversity; in partnership with governments, Indigenous People, Local Communities, and the private sector. It’s four zoos and aquarium (the Bronx Zoo, Central Park Zoo, Queens Zoo, Prospect Park Zoo, and the New York Aquarium ) welcome more than 3.5 million visitors each year, inspiring generations to care for nature. Visit: newsroom.wcs.org. Follow: @WCSNewsroom. For more information: +1 (347) 840-1242. Listen to the WCS Wild Audio podcast HERE.
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