Captive Breeding

The Province of Chubut provided in October 2018 a permit to the Shoonem Foundation to install a Rehabilitation and Breeding Station, with the aim to assist the huemul, by facilitating a numerical and spatial recovery, particularly future re-introductions.
Examinations of bones from dead animals or skeletal remains found in the mountains of Argentina and Chile reveal a shocking fact: the majority of deer in these populations appear not to survive beyond about 3 or 4 years old because of widespread bone disease.
There is almost no published description of any clinical examination of living huemul deer in Argentina. However, the recent and first-ever examination of live huemul in the Protected Park Shoonem revealed the 6 of 7 deer had problems of bone disease. This was a key reason to advance with a Rehabilitation Station.
The construction efforts to build a 100 ha semi-captive facility were recently completed. The absolute milestone however, was reached in August of 2022:

several huemul were capture in mid-winter and translocated to the Shoonem Station which now has 3 females and a male.

  • Shoonem Rehabilitation and Breeding Station