Jo Anne Smith-Flueck is director of DeerLab — a research consortium in the Argentine Nahuel Huapi National Reserve that specializes in wildlife management and conservation throughout Patagonia. She is also on the management team for the newly created 170,000-hectare Shoonem Protected Area. Her education includes a Ph.D. in biology from the Argentine National University of Comahue, a M.Sc. in ecology from University of California Davis, and a B.Sc. in wildlife management from Humboldt State. A TWS Certified Wildlife Biologist and member of The Wildlife Society for over 30 years, Jo-Anne chairs the Scientific Steering Committee for the 9th International Deer Biology Congress (August 2018, Estes Park, Colorado).
Fernando Vidal Mugica is leader of "Project Huemul" of the Huilo Huilo Foundation and director of the Wildlife Unit at the Huilo Huilo Reserve. A private consultant on wildlife issues, he is also adjunct professor for the Conservation and Management of Wildlife Unit, University Santo Tomás in Temuco and a member of the Conservation Breeding and Deer Specialist Groups of the IUCN, Species Survival Commission. Fernando started his career as a commercial flight pilot, licensed by both the Chilean Civil Aeronautic Department (DGAC) and the U.S. Federal Aviation Agency (FAA). Retiring in 1999, he formed the Center for the Conservation and Management of Wildlife "Fauna Andina," dedicated to saving threatened species in Chile, where he has accomplished captive breeding success with several native species, such as the huemul, the southern pudu (Pudu puda), the güiña cat (Leopardus guigna) and Darwin’s fox (Lycalopex fulvipes).
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Friday, October 14, 2016
Chileans are making positive strides in the battle to bring back their emblematic Patagonian huemul, a medium-sized deer with large, mule-like ears that decorates the nation's coat of arms alongside the Andean condor. Later this month, the only captive breeding program in the world for this species will reintroduce the first animals ever back into the wild on the private Huilo Huilo Biological Reserve, where huemul have not been sighted for 25 years.
