Mammals · Artiodactyla · Cervidae
Patagonian Huemul
Hippocamelus bisulcus
Endangered
At very high risk of extinction in the wild in the near future.
The huemul is a stocky, short-legged deer of the Patagonian Andes, adapted to steep and snowy terrain. The males have short, forked antlers. It once occupied the whole cordillera from central Chile to Tierra del Fuego, and today survives in less than half that area, in highly fragmented populations. Livestock, feral dogs, diseases carried by cattle and the loss of native forest have pushed it back. It appears on the national coat of arms of Chile alongside the condor.
Weight
40 kg – 100 kg
Size
1.4 m – 1.8 m
Life expectancy
14 years
