Hippocamelus bisulcus

Geographic Range

Chilean huemuls ( Hippocamelus bisulcus ) are native to Argentina and Chile in the Neotropical biogeographic region. This region is on the south tip of the continent of South America continuing northward along the western portion of the continent. Their range extends as far north as San Fabian, Chile and is contiguous until Kawésqar National Park in south Chile. These huemuls extend scarcely into Argentina, beginning near Lago Roca in the south. Only in mountainous areas of western Argentina, their range rarely exceeds 70 km east of the Chilean border.

Seven small, disjunct populations remain on western Chilean islands, as far south as the Peninsula de Brunswick.

• Biogeographic Regions
• neotropical neotropical
  • native native

Habitat

Chilean huemuls are terrestrial animals. These deer are found in a variety of places across the Andes Mountain range, from sea level to 3000m above sea level. Common habitats include steep slopes on mountains and forested habitats, including forest edges and dense-shrub forests. In the summer, they are more common at higher elevations, and migrate to lower elevations in winter months. Historically, huemuls used grasslands in winter months. Although they do make use of grasslands today (mostly at higher elevations), they often avoid areas with high levels of human traffic or high predation pressure. The deer live in valley flats, in mountainous areas that include rocky mountains slopes, grasslands, and forested areas including shrubby forest.

• Habitat Regions
• terrestrial terrestrial

• Terrestrial Biomes
• savanna or grassland savanna or grassland
• forest forest
• scrub forest scrub forest
• mountains mountains

Physical Description

Chilean huemuls are deer in the Family Cervidae . Like all mammals, they are endothermic. These huemuls' average height is just around 1,629 mm for males (range 1,400-1,830 mm) and 1,564 mm for females (range 1,402-1,750 mm). Males' average weight is 75.2 kg (range 55-90 kg) and females average 69.3 kg (range 60-80 kg). Males are slightly larger and possess antlers. The antlers are in a distinct y shape. Males also have some black coloring on their faces. Both sexes possess a light brown pelage and can have short curly hair.

In warmer months, huemuls shed fur and their pelage is lighter in color; in cooler months, fur is thicker and darker. Year-round the underside of their tail, area between the legs, inner ears, and around the eyes and mouth, they are white.

Unlike other cervids, huemul fawns are brown with no spotting. The newborn fawns weigh 2.04 to 4.0 kg and the fawns have a shoulder height of 325 mm to 440 mm shortly after birth. At about 6 months old, male fawns begin to grow antlers and also gain their black on their faces.

• Other Physical Features
• endothermic endothermic
• bilateral symmetry bilateral symmetry

• Sexual Dimorphism
• male larger
• sexes shaped differently
• ornamentation ornamentation

Development

Chilean huemul gestation period is 7 months. Young fawns remain fairly inactive to avoid detection and threats. At two months old Chilean huemuls begin foraging and eating vegetation, and are weaned from their mother’s milk occurs around four months. They reach sexual maturity at 1.5 years for females and one year for males. Like all mammals, they exhibit determinant growth. However, older males tend to grow larger antlers than younger ones.

Reproduction

Chilean huemuls typically are polygynous, with one male mating with multiple females. In recent years, monogamous pairs have been reported. Males leave scent markings within their home range to gain the attention of females. Males may have physical altercations over a female, engaging in chases and charges. While most males only remain with females until mating has occurred, others may remain with females throughout the year.

• Mating System
• polygynous polygynous

Chilean huemuls are viviparous and breed once a year via internal fertilization. Their breeding is seasonal (females are seasonally polyestrous) and the rut takes place from February to May. The deer become pregnant in mid autumn to early winter and give birth in the November or December. The females are only giving birth to one fawn at a time, though twins have been reported in this species. Females are pregnant 220 to 240 days. Fawns at birth weigh 2.04 to 4.0 kg. By four months they are weaned from their mother's milk. Independence can be reached at this stage, or females often stay with the mothers longer - up to 1.5 years. All are typically independent by 1 year of age. By one year, males reach sexual maturity. The females reach maturity at 1.5 years, but generally do not have fawns until they are 3 or 4 years old - suggesting a delay of a year or more beyond the point of maturity. Females typically do not breed every year.

• Key Reproductive Features
• iteroparous iteroparous
• seasonal breeding seasonal breeding
• gonochoric/gonochoristic/dioecious (sexes separate)
• sexual sexual
• fertilization fertilization
• viviparous viviparous

Chilean huemuls deer are raised by their mothers. After a gestation period of 7 months, they are well developed when birthed. The mothers nurse the young for four months. The mothers protect their young by hiding them and feeding them. Young are independent around four months to one year of age (up to 1.5 years). Males don’t contribute to parental investment beyond the act of mating.

• Parental Investment
• precocial precocial
• female parental care female parental care
• pre-fertilization
  • provisioning
  • protecting
    • female
• pre-hatching/birth
  • provisioning
    • female
  • protecting
    • female
• pre-weaning/fledging
  • provisioning
    • female
  • protecting
    • female

Lifespan/Longevity

The average life expectancy is 10 years for the Chilean huemuls in the wild. Chilean huemuls are vulnerable when young and can die within the first year. They are kept in captivity, often for captive breeding efforts. While kept in captivity, one male individual lived 10 years, 7 months, and 18 days.

Smith-Fleuck and Fleuck (2001) reported that death by predation was more common than death from other natural causes (e.g. starvation in winter), and that mortality was documented across all age classes and both sexes. About half the fawns and 31% of adults had signs of predation by puma ( Puma concolor ). Male adults were more commonly preyed upon than adult females.

Behavior

Chilean huemuls are social deer that live in herds. Like all deer, they are terricolous. In the spring months, they exist in small groups of 2-3 (up to 10) while they form larger groups of 11-17 in colder months. Historically, groups of 50-100 were reported in winter months; most remaining herds are not this large. The herds typically are female-dominated.

These deer are crepuscular, often feeding on just 1-2 species of plants seasonally. The young fawns stay with their mothers past weaning and remain in the herds.

They migrate seasonally, spending their summers at higher elevations and winters at lower elevations. These seasonal vertical migrations are fairly short, between 1-5 km treks.

Although males can chase and challenge each other during the rut, Chilean huemuls typically flee from threats. As they are not fast runner, they flee to rocky slopes for protection.

• Key Behaviors
• cursorial
• terricolous
• crepuscular crepuscular
• motile motile
• migratory migratory
• social social

Home Range

Home range for Chilean huemuls vary markedly across latitudes, elevations, and level of disturbance. Ranges at the low end were estimated at 36 ha, but locales with landscape-altering disturbances (i.e., logging) may push huemuls to use up to 700-1.954 ha. Typical home range sizes when disturbance is lacking may be less than 400 ha, with males’ home ranges typically exceeding that of females. As is typical for deer, they do not defend a territory.

Communication and Perception

Chilean huemuls communicate by acoustics. They grunt and make other noises to communicate to each other. They also stomp and make noises with their feet to scare off other predators. The males fight with their antlers using tactile behaviors over food, territory, or females. They also mate by touch, and females care for young visually and by touch.

Tactile efforts include males rubbing against trees and other objects to lease and leave a pheromone trail for females. These pheromones indicate to females that males are ready to reproduce. These deer possess fairly large pre-orbital glands, pedal glands, and and tarsal glands. They lack metatarsal glands.

Deer see in black and white, but are very perceptive of movement detection; the deer use their vision to find food and their fawns, spot predators, and navigate their living spaces.

• Communication Channels
• visual visual
• tactile tactile
• acoustic acoustic
• chemical chemical

• Perception Channels
• visual visual
• tactile tactile
• vibrations vibrations
• chemical chemical

Food Habits

Chilean huemuls are herbivores, specifically grazers and folivores. They feed on herbaceous and shrubby plants, consuming leaves, branches, fruits, and flowers. In winter months, they feed opportunistically on remaining leaves and portions of trees. Chilean huemuls most commonly consume devil's strawberry ( Gunnera magellanica ). Frid (1994) studied feeding behaviors of huemuls and found that 99% of what adults ate was a combination of Gunnera magellanica (especially fruits, when available) and hairy fuschia ( Fuchsia magellanica ) when both were present in huemul habitats. Besides these two species, Frid found deer consuming 9 other plants in smaller amounts. They also included herbs in family Asteraceae, Chilean blackcurrant Ribes magellanicum and plants from the genus Nothofagus - known as southern beech trees.

• Primary Diet
• herbivore herbivore
  • folivore folivore
  • frugivore frugivore
  • lignivore

• Plant Foods
• leaves
• wood, bark, or stems
• fruit
• flowers

Predation

Chilean huemuls face a number of predators, including humans ( Homo sapiens ) who hunt them. These deer are also preyed upon by domestic dogs ( Canis lupus familiaris ), wolves ( Canis lupus ), pumas ( Puma concolor ), and culpeo foxes ( Lycalopex culpaeus ).

Huemuls run to escape predators, and use camouflage to evade them.

• Anti-predator Adaptations
• cryptic cryptic

Ecosystem Roles

Chilean huemuls are herbivores that are preyed upon by humans, feral dogs ( Lycaon pictus ), and pumas ( puma concolor ). Chilean huemuls have also been known to host multiple endoparasites, including liver flukes ( Fasciola hepatica ), sheep tapeworms ( Taenia ovis krabbei ), bladder tapeworms ( Cysticerus tenuicollis ), and roundworms in three genera: Ostertagi , Bunostomum , and Dictyocaulus .

Economic Importance for Humans: Positive

Chilean huemuls illegally killed to be eaten by humans and for their animals. Parts of these deer are also used for fish bait. They may also be hunted for trophies by humans.

• Positive Impacts
• food food
• body parts are source of valuable material

Economic Importance for Humans: Negative

Chilean huemuls do not have a negative economic impact on humans.

Conservation Status

Chilean huemuls are listed as "Endangered" on both the IUCN Red List and US Federal list. They are listed under Appendix I of CITES, meaning international trade is prohibited (except for scientific research). They are not listed on the State of Michigan list.

Habitat loss due to human expansion and conversion to agricultural land is the primary threat. This loss has led to habitat fragmentation and population isolation across the landscape, increasing genetic isolation and low genetic variation. Further, interaction with cattle has allowed huemuls to pick up viruses and parasites from the cattle. Overharvesting via hunting for food and sport remains a concern. They have limited options for migration, as they tend to avoid areas of human habitation. This is especially a problem in searching for suitable wintering habitats.

Chile and Argentina governments, where huemuls live, have not enacted or enforced many conservation efforts. Limited funds combined with an increased need for landuse changes have just hurt populations of huemuls. It's estimated that 63% of individuals remaining are inhabiting unprotected areas. A recent law in Chile does not permit dogs (potential predators) in protected areas. There are breeding programs for Chilean huemuls in captivity - one such center in Chile is raising huemuls for release back into the wild, as a method to supplement populations and introduce genetic variation into isolated populations. Cooperation between the two governments is necessary to increase the numbers, currently 1000 individuals in Chile and 500 in Argentina.

Additional Links

Encyclopedia of Life

Contributors

Claudia Bosch (author), Radford University, Natalie May (editor), Radford University, Alexander McVicker (editor), Radford University, Karen Powers (editor), Radford University, Tanya Dewey (editor), University of Michigan-Ann Arbor.

References

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