The Patagonian school where condors learn to fly

Pumalín was found dying and with signs of cold when he was still a baby in the national park in southern Chile with which he shares a name. It is believed that it fell from the nest during a raging storm.

Since then, her family has been Liquiñe, a female condor that was also found in terrible conditions, but this time in the central zone of the country. Both have lived in captivity for months while they recovered and learned something they couldn’t do as children: fly.

“Losing a condor is dramatic. The species is vulnerable and could soon be in danger of extinction,” warned Cristián Saucedo, director of Wildlife at Fundación Rewilding Chile.

emblem of the Andes

Pumalín and Liñaque spent the first stage of rehabilitation in a center for raptors in Santiago and were later transferred to a large cage in the heart of Chilean Patagonia.

There they got used to the Patagonian winds and temperatures, learned to dismember guanacos carcasses and were even visited by other condors, who perched for hours on the roof of the cage.

The condor, the emblematic species of the Andes, “is very social and gregarious and its survival depends on its ability to interact with its peers. They need the group to find flight paths or places to rest,” explained Saucedo.

Last weekend, his keepers decided that the time had come to “fly from the nest”. They had reached the precise weight (between 8 and 10 kilograms), they measured about 2.7 meters in wingspan, their plumage was in good condition and they showed fear of humans, a sign that they were not domesticated.

In the middle of the steppe, near the border with Argentina and with the San Lorenzo peak in the background, the cage doors opened. Against all odds, Liquiñe was the first to leave. Pumalín, on the other hand, hesitated for a while.

“This was the second try for her. We released it a few months ago, but we had to rescue it shortly after because it was not used to living in freedom,” said Dominique Durán, director of the Manku Project, which together with Rewilding and the Meri Foundation are responsible for this project to conserve condors started in the 2021.

“Connection between heaven and earth”

For pre-Columbian cultures, “the condor meant the connection of the earth with the sky,” said cameraman Mateo Barrenengoa, who recorded the release for a documentary he is preparing on the Andean scavenger.

“It is an animal that delivers wonderful moments. There are times when it passes at a very short distance and you can even hear the movement of the wings, ”he added.

Chile concentrates the largest population of condors in South America and 70% of these are found in Patagonia, a wild area shared with Argentina where other emblematic Andean species such as guanacos, huemules or ñandús live.

“The northern distribution of condors is the most fragile, especially in Ecuador and Colombia, but we are strengthening the healthiest nucleus because, if we secure Patagonia, we can later carry out reinsertion programs there,” Saucedo said.

Durán pointed out that the release “is only the beginning of a long process of reintegration into nature” and that the two radio and satellite transmitters that they have implanted will allow them to study their movements and learn more about this highly vulnerable species.

Illegal hunting, poorly managed landfills, the lack of guanacos to eat or “toxic baits” – animal carcasses that the winners poison to kill foxes or pumas – are their main threats.

“These condors – added the documentary filmmaker – have returned to nature after captivity and we should learn from them and return to nature, to the roots, to connect.”