Camera traps discover new populations of nearly extinct chinchillas

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chinchillin2005

Shadow's mom
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The short-tailed chinchilla (Chinchilla chinchilla) once inhabited a range including the mountainous regions of Argentina, Bolivia, Chile and Peru, but today the species survives in only a handful of areas in northern Chile and Argentina. Worse still, evidence of the Argentinean populations is restricted to remains discovered in the droppings of their natural predators. But, since 2011, Pablo Valladares from the University of Tarapaca in conjunction with the National Forestry Corporation of Chile (CONAF) has been searching Tres Cruces National Park for previously undocumented populations, and it has finally paid off: Valladares and colleagues discovered two new colonies with remote camera traps.

Prized for its ultra-soft fur, the short-tailed chinchilla has undergone an exponential decline since Spanish settlers began large-scale harvesting operations. Though they were hunted by the Inca and other local people in pre-Columbian times, commercial export began in 1828 and peaked in intensity between 1885 and 1910, with an average export rate of a quarter million pelts per year. But by 1917, due to increasing overexploitation, exports dropped off to almost nothing.

In 1924, a total of eleven short and long-tailed chinchillas (Chinchilla lanigera) were captured from their high desert habitat and shipped live to California, where the now worldwide practice of chinchilla farming was first developed. Though the fur of their hybrid ancestors continues to be sold across the world, and chinchillas have gained popularity as exotic pets, both species are extremely rare in the wild. No sightings occurred between 1953 and 1975, and only as recently as 2008 did the IUCN consider there to be sufficient data to update their status from Locally Extinct to Critically Endangered.

The discovery of the two new small colonies of short-tailed chinchilla, published in the Argentinean journal Neotropical Mammalogy, doubles the known locales where Chinchilla colonies exist, and is also the southernmost example of short-tailed chinchilla populations found in recent times. To locate them, the team employed motion-sensitive camera traps in a rocky ravine near a creek bed and a collection of small cave formations—two staples of short-tailed chinchilla habitat. As their results show, employing camera traps can be very effective, and has aided ecologists in capturing images of other rare and nocturnal animals across the globe.

The team's data will be used to help determine future conservation policy, and is a sign of hope for similar projects in other parts of the chinchilla's historical range.

Read more: http://news.mongabay.com/2012/0725-rudolph-chinchillas.html#ixzz248ttEOA7
Good to know. :D
 
Nice to know, the chin in that pic have really small ears, that's one the short tailed chin traits?
Yes, the article should state Chinchilla Brevicaudata (short tailed chinchilla) not chinchilla chinchilla.

Also, as you can tell by the stock in the U.S. there have been several influxes of the different body types of chinchillas beyond the 11 brought in by Chapman. Nobody knows how many were smuggled in, but I've seen articles where ranchers in South America still occasionally trap wild chinchillas to cross into their stock.

The Brevi type are known for their larger bodies, denser fur but lack of production and very soft brownish fur. The Lanigera are known for their desirable strong blue fur, large litter production and small, narrow bodies with long ears.

For decades the goal of the american rancher has been to get the size and fur density of the Brevi with the strong blue fur and high litter production of the Lanigera.
 
I've always like the Brevi face better, too. :)

Hey, whatever happened with the third chin type? Years ago, I know there were three types, the last name escapes me, and now there are only two?

Did they discover two were the same?
 
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Costina was the third body type-but there is debate if it was actually a body type or just poor quality lanigera. Its the long, skinny rat shape.
 
I went to look up the Nevado Tres Cruces National Park in Chile. Land totals 145.7 total miles.

Rain fall totals ( looks like snow added ) on the low end are 100mm. Thats 3.9 inches. High end totals are 120mm or 4.7 inches. The web page also listed two rivers. Don't know the sizes. And the park has 10 species of mammals, 62 birds and 4 reptiles.

Thanks for the post. Interesting story.
 
It might be of interest to some of you, but we visited the Bienvenido Reserva Nacional Las Chinchillas Preserve in Chili in 1991.

The visitor center was under construction at the time. It was being developed to educate people about the Chinchilla's history.
The map shows the 10,000 acres included in the preserve. This area was totally fenced for the protection of the Chinchilla.

What some of you may not be aware of, there were two main reasons that Chinchilla numbers were diminished. The Spanish heavily trapped the Chinchilla at that time for their fur, but the bigger problem was the importation of fox that they did which were natural predators of the Chinchilla. This further diminished their numbers – probably more so than trapping itself.

What was interesting on our visit was that we were there at a time following a rainy season and the locals said that the beautiful flowers and shrubs we saw were the first in about 30 years. It showed us how scarce the food for the Chinchilla was normally – only scrubby brush to eat. We did not see water in the areas where we were – and as the Indians of the time believed – Chinchilla did not drink water – it would have been that it was not in plentiful supply. They would lick the dew from the rocks and brush early in the morning for their water and therefore not been seen actually drinking water.

It was believed that the Chinchilla lived in the highest elevations and being nocturnal it was almost impossible to actually see one. We were told at that point they had never seen wild Chinchilla (other than one that was on exhibit that had been captured many years before), but could find dropping trails and areas where they had taken a ‘dust bath’.

As you can see from these pictures of the wild Chinchilla – they have nothing to contribute to today’s breed as ranch raising has developed them far more than they could ever have in the wild.

This animal is actually a standard animal although it appears to be an off colored beige. You can see also the extreme lack of density it has.

The Preserve was developed - not for people to go into, but to preserve the few Chinchilla that may be availble. Education would be at the visitors center only - except for approved research groups from time to time.

It was truly a very interesting and exciting thing to see. We did get to hike a good way but not into the higher elevation areas where they were hiding.
 

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I have been very curious about chinchillas in the wild. This answered a lot of my questions. Thanks for the post. Also I really enjoyed the pictures. :D
 
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