Tagging huemul fawns (Hippocamelus bisulcus) at Torres del Paine National Park, Magallanes, Chile.

Resumen

There is no better approach in the study of social behavior of a species than recognizing individuals. For the similar looking animals as in the huemul (Hippocamelus bisulcus), were we could only differentiate between sexes and ages, marking became a critical need. In a long-term study of the huemul at Torres del Paine National Park, Chile, we wanted to recognize individuals as young as fawns, hence we adopted the technique learned from Franklin and Johnson (1994) to trap fawns during the birthing season. Teams looked-up for females suspected to have given birth to find the location of the hidden fawn. Once the fawn was located we proceeded to trap and mark it. In this way 16 fawns were trapped, measured, and ear-tagged. These animals were key for a better understanding of several aspects of the ecology of the huemul at that park.