Five guanacos released in argentina’s gran chaco after epic 2,000-mile journey sparks scientific debate over wildlife translocation

Five guanacos have been successfully released into Argentina’s El Impenetrable National Park after an extraordinary 2,000-mile journey from Patagonia and a year-long adaptation period. These South American camelids—the continent’s largest wild relatives of llamas—are part of an ambitious rewilding effort to restore the Dry Chaco ecosystem, where guanacos haven’t been spotted since 1913.

The translocation project, led by conservation group Rewilding Argentina in partnership with national and provincial authorities, aims to revive grasslands degraded by decades of cattle overgrazing. The five animals—three females, one male, and one juvenile—traveled from Patagonia National Park, home to roughly 90% of Argentina’s guanaco population. Their mission: help restore ecological balance to a landscape where their species was driven to local extinction by hunting and habitat loss to livestock farming.

However, the initiative has sparked heated debate among Argentine scientists. While Rewilding Argentina celebrates the release as a conservation victory, some academics warn that mixing guanaco populations with different genetic backgrounds could cause more harm than good. This controversy highlights broader questions about wildlife translocation strategies as conservation tools.

Despite regional extinctions, guanacos remain relatively stable continent-wide, with 1.5-2.2 million individuals scattered across southern and western grasslands. Argentina hosts the vast majority (81-86%), while Chile supports 14-18%, and a small population persists in northern Peru. Only fragmented populations survive along the Paraguay-Bolivia border, making the Gran Chaco reintroduction a critical step toward reconnecting isolated groups and restoring this iconic species to its historical range.