St Hugh’s students travel to Chilean Patagonia to study pumas
St Hugh’s undergraduate students, Montague Pierce Jones (Archaeology and Anthropology, 2021) and Sebastian Rumfitt (Biology, 2021) travelled to Chilean Patagonia for six weeks between August and September 2024 to study pumas. The trip was funded by a St Hugh’s College grant, the Royal Geographic Society (thanks to the Jeremy Willson Charitable Trust, and the Neil Thomas Proto Award), and the Oxford University Exploration Club. It was supported by Puma SE.
The pair were based in Torres del Paine National Park, staying with park rangers who generously imparted their deep knowledge of the mesmerising environment they found themselves in. They learnt about the impacts of historic sheep farming, the human-sparked wildfires that still scar the landscape, iconic plants like Mata Negra and Calafate, and of course, pumas. The focus of the trip was to explore the impact of tourism on the mountain lions.
Monty and Seb interviewed the rangers and guides about the history of tourism in the area, and the changes they have personally seen in puma behaviour. They also collected scat (animal excrement) samples, which will eventually provide quantifiable evidence of tourism-induced stress, through cortisol analysis. The scat will also be used to study the diet and genetics of the animals.
The project was made possible by the involvement of two local experts: Professor Cristian Bonacic of the Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile and Solange Sabelle of the Fundación Cerro Guido, who introduced Monty and Seb to the team at Torres del Paine, taught them about field ecology, and how to actually track the pumas to find scat. Early mornings, watching the patterns of andean condors, infrared monoculars, and systematic searches around fresh guanaco carcasses proved to be the top tips.
The pair are working on a video of their expedition, including footage of pumas and interviews with stakeholders which will be featured on the website when available.
