Argentina: They warn that the growing population of guanacos threatens sheep farming

(NAP) Producers from Chubut, Santa Cruz, Río Negro, Neuquén and Tierra del Fuego, together with the Argentine Rural Confederations (CRA), called for measures to stop the advance of this native species, which in its current state threatens to destroy the productive and ecological base of Patagonian lands. This claim is supported by the recent research of the Natural Resources group of the EEA Santa Cruz and the opinion of biologist Stuart "Chacho" Blake, who highlight the urgency of a comprehensive management policy. The accelerated growth of the guanaco population, which reaches more than one million specimens in Chubut, seriously affected the sheep sector. In the last 20 years, their stock fell by 32%, going from 10 to less than seven million heads. While guanacos expand without control and exhaust vital resources such as pastures and water, they also generate direct competition with sheep. For producers, this situation also facilitates the predation of their animals by foxes and ...