In Search of the North Andean Deer (“La Taruka”) at Condor Valley
by Dr. Michael Wisdom, Research Biologist, USDA Forest Service Pacific Northwest Research Station, La Grande OR US and Dr. Ricardo Ojeda, Research Mammalogist, National Council for Science and Technology of Argentina, CONICET, Mendoza, Argentina Condor Valley supports one of the most elusive and unique species of wildlife in all of Argentina. The North Andean deer (Hippocamelus antisensis), better known as the “taruka,” is a rare and little-known deer species that occupies high-elevation mountain grasslands of the Andes in southern Peru, southwestern Bolivia, northeastern Chile, and...
Read MoreTaruka Expedition Timeline
6 October: Ride four hours from La Bodega to El Peusto on horseback with Martin, Bruno, Jose, Gustavo, and two pack horses. Chicken and beef Asado over a campfire for lunch with boxed wine. Climb a nearby peak in the afternoon to take in the landscape. Condors watch us overhead. Drink mate with coca and local herbs before turning in for the night. Sleep on leather bound cots with our horse blankets for padding. 7 October: Wake early to watch Jose round up the horses. After coffee and some leather repairs we ride from El Peusto to El Ojo de Agua. The trail is steep and difficult, choked...
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