The story of the interaction between pumas and livestock in Patagonia starts at the

end of the XIX century, when the sheep farming industry started with the arrival of

1.200 sheep introduced from the Malvinas Islands. But the development this new

industry required space. Back then, Patagonia was mostly a wild place, with

forests, steppes and mountains where wildlife was abundant everywhere. So

farmers started to use those wild places to raise their livestock, replacing places

formerly inhabited by local wildlife. Guanaco numbers decreased dramatically,

being hunted because of their competence with livestock. With less preys to eat

and with people and livestock living closer to their territories, the pumas started to

prey on a new food: sheep. And this led to a conflict who remains until today.

The usual way to deal with puma predation on livestock was (and is still today)

hunting them. The persecution of pumas was left in hands of the so-called

leoneros, specialist in tracking and hunting the cats with the help of trained dogs.

Usually every ranch had its own leonero, if not, was easy to find and hire one of

them to do the job. On this way the ranchers tried to keep pumas away from their

business. This story repeats itself all around the distribution of the puma, changing

the environment or the livestock, but the solution of the equation is quite the same:

to hunt the one who is behind their losses.

But almost a century later, something changed on the way some of the ranchers

saw the pumas. The month of August of 1995 left a deep wound in people living in

Patagonia. A white curtain covered the region for several days. The snow storm,

accompanied with low temperatures and strong winds was the worst combination

for both local people and animals. Twenty-five years have passed since the so

called “white earthquake”, a climatic event who took more than 176.000 sheep and

the dreams of many ranchers in Patagonia. Many of them lost everything and had

to sell their lands, earning their livelihood through an activity different than livestock

raising.

Despite this tragic episode, the Estancia Laguna Amarga was one of the ranches

who decided to keep in the business. The rooting of Goic family to their land was

stronger than anything, so against all odds, decided to stay in the area. And with

less pressure on the land due to a decrease on livestock numbers, local wildlife

(including pumas) found their opportunity to roam on their territory again.

The puma populations found a place, together with Torres del Paine National Park,

where they would be able to live without being chased by humans. Their numbers

started to grow, every year was more easy for people to see them, and somehow,

they were not afraid of people anymore. On both the park and the estancia the

pumas weren’t persecuted anymore so the humans stopped being a threat. Today

there are hundreds of tourists who are coming to the park and the Estancia to see

and photograph this magnificent species, a unique area to spot pumas in the world.

The arrival of this new business brought a new hope for local pumas. Now other

estancias are starting to look with different eyes at pumas, stopping to see them as

the hated ones, and hopefully, to help on their conservation.

But there’s still a lot to do. Tourism with pumas is a delicate business and it needs

to be done responsibly. There’s a lot to learn, many mistakes to be repaired and

things to learn. Estancia Laguna Amarga is actually working on them, developing

safety protocols for both pumas and people. Responsibility and respect are the key

when working with wildlife. Inevitably our presence on their habitats somehow

interfere, but our goal should be to remain (almost) invisible, allowing them to

behave naturally and without threats. If done in a safe and responsible way, tourism

can be the key to unlock the gate for pumas to their natural habitat, so they could to

roam free and wild once again.