Helicopter trip finds endangered mammals thriving on Chile peak. ‘Hopeful sign’
In a remote part of southern Chile, a helicopter took off and approached an even more remote mountaintop. Conservationists watched out its windows and, to their amazement, saw the endangered mammal they were looking for standing “right there.”
That was just the beginning.
Cabo Froward sits at the “southernmost point” of South America; it’s a rugged and largely unexplored region slated to become a national park, Rewilding Chile said in a July 9 Instagram post. As part of this process, research teams have been conducting biodiversity surveys of the area.
“About a year ago, during a forest restoration expedition carried out by boat, we had an unexpected encounter,” Cristián Saucedo, the organization’s wildlife director, told McClatchy News. On the coast stood a huemul deer.
Huemul deer, also known as South Andean deer, are an “elusive” and “discreet” mammal species known to inhabit “the mountainous regions of southern Chile and Argentina,” the organization said. Due to habitat loss, hunting and competition from invasive animals, the species has lost “more than 99%” of its population and is endangered with only about 1,500 surviving deer.
Conservationists had long suspected huemul deer might live in Cabo Froward, but the team’s 2024 sighting sparked new efforts to find these animals, Saucedo said via email.
Initial search efforts identified some promising mountain valleys but reaching these sites on foot was “extremely difficult,” Saucedo said. “That’s when we turned to helicopters.”
In February, two teams of conservationists used helicopters to reach the remote peaks then spent three days surveying the area.
“As we approached the very first ridge, several huemuls appeared — as if they had been waiting for us,” Saucedo said.
“It was surprising … to see a huemul right there,” Miguel Lopetegui, a park ranger with the Chilean Forestry Service who participated in the trek, said in the organization’s Instagram video, according to translated captions. “This was our welcome, which left us very excited and energized.”
The team eventually saw about 10 huemul deer and realized they’d discovered a “previously unknown” population thriving on the remote peak, the organization said.
Conservationists described the new population as “a hopeful sign” for the endangered species.
“Our hope is to find additional groups of huemuls in other nearby mountain ranges,” Saucedo said.
The team set up dozens of trail cameras and is planning a follow-up helicopter expedition. They are also continuing other monitoring and surveying efforts at Cabo Froward.
This story was originally published July 11, 2025 at 7:26 AM with the headline "Helicopter trip finds endangered mammals thriving on Chile peak. ‘Hopeful sign’."
