The guanaco (Lama guanicoe) is an iconic camelid of the southern and western grasslands of  South America. As a migratory species, it depends on extensive, connected habitats for feeding, breeding, and avoiding predators. Its winter and summer migratory movements promote ecosystem integrity. Its anatomy and feeding habits contribute to pasture regeneration and help soils store carbon, playing a key role in climate change mitigation and adaptation. In addition, this herbivore is a key food source for native carnivores and scavengers, such as the puma and the Andean condor. 

Challenges

Over the last 200 years, the guanaco population has declined from around 20 million individuals to approximately 2.5 million. Currently, their conservation status varies from country to country and between regions within Argentina. At the same time, their range has shrunk to 40% of the area the species occupied in the past. According to the criteria of the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN), in Peru, Bolivia, and Paraguay, their conservation status is categorized as Critically Endangered; and in Chile, in much of its territory, they are defined as Vulnerable,. In Argentina, it is also considered Least Concern, and although it has recovered in recent decades in areas of Patagonia, much of its population is fragmented into mostly small and relatively isolated groups.

In the long term, both the condition of their habitat and the survival of guanacos may be threatened if their seasonal migrations are restricted. These are one of the most threatened ecological processes worldwide, due to causes such as habitat degradation from overgrazing by livestock; the impacts of the mining, oil, and energy industries; the placement of barriers such as fences, roads, and urban developments; and water and food shortages due to the climate crisis. Persecuted for competing with livestock, guanacos are largely relegated to drier lands and confined by fences and poaching.

Our Work

We work closely with national and provincial government authorities to promote guanaco conservation and implement science-based management. We also promote effective control of poaching and illegal fiber trafficking by governments.

We support livestock producers in developing their activities while coexisting with guanacos through non-lethal practices, such as placing eaves on livestock drinking troughs to prevent their use by guanacos. In conjunction with the National Scientific and Technical Research Council (CONICET), we promote wild guanaco shearing practices that comply with animal welfare standards and support the process so that the fibers obtained can achieve Wildlife Friendly™ international certification and be marketed for their great fineness and quality.

We work in the La Payunia Protected Natural Area in Mendoza, where the world's largest guanaco migration occurs, researching their movements and mitigating threats that may impact them. Through telemetry studies and seasonal counts, we have already documented a massive migration of between 25,000 and 40,000 guanacos, which traveled up to 75 linear kilometers between summer and winter areas. To ensure safe mass migrations, we are working to increase public lands within the protected area. Between 2013 and 2024, we have added 82,000 hectares to the public domain in areas crucial for the movement and reproduction of this species.

We are also working to restore connectivity between the guanacos of La Payunia and the large population in the Auca Mahuida Protected Natural Area in Neuquén province, which had been devastated by poaching, mainly through oil exploration roads. After closing nearly 500 of these roads in collaboration with the Neuquén government and oil companies in a vast area of 220,000 hectares, we managed to reduce the number of poachers' vehicles entering the area by 69%. As a result, the number of guanacos increased by 30% in nine years and the population resumed its seasonal movements.

At the international level, we support the multi-organizational initiative # GuanaConecta initiative, which seeks to promote cross-border conservation strategies, and we are pushing for the recognition of the guanaco as a migratory species with its inclusion in the UN Convention on Migratory Species (CMS) achieved in 2024, which encourages governments to implement, improve, and coordinate management plans for the species in the region. That same year, we promoted the declaration of August 23 as International Guanaco Day to raise awareness about its conservation.