An Encounter with a Pudu in Southern Chile
Pudus are the smallest of deers. In 15 visits to southern Chile (where they live) over a period of 34 years, I had never encountered one. Then on Friday 29th December 2023, I (with wife Cristina and her sister Patti) finally saw the one shown below, nibbling the roadside grass between Petrohué and Ensenada, where the lower flanks of Volcán Osorno meet the Rio Petrohué between the Llanquihue and Todos Los Santos lakes. The area lies within the Vicente Pérez Rosales National Park. It took a moment to process - "Wow, that is a pudu." The southern pudu ( Pudu puda ) These southern pudus ( Pudu puda ) live in a beautiful green landscape of temperate forests between lakes and fast-running rivers with snow-capped volcanoes towering above. They are generally very shy and hardly ever seen. They prefer mature Nothofagus dombeyi (commonly known as coihue) forest, with a dense understory dominated by Chusquea quila , commonly known as quila. View showing three volcanoes (Calbuco lower