Condor
With a wingspan of 9-10 feet, the Andean condor is the largest flying land bird in the Western hemisphere. They are also extremely long-lived, with a lifespan of up to 50 years. Since they are so large they have to use heat thermals rising from the ground to life them into the air. The Andean peoples have myths about condors carrying off women to be their brides. They're basically awesome.
Where's Condorito?
This highly endangered deer is the national symbol of Chile, featured alongside the condor on the national seal. There are only 50 in the park so we were really lucky to see one. They are small, only 3 feet high and weighing around 100 lbs.
My crap photo from the bus. See it?
One with detail!
Wikipedia doesn't know much about this little guy except that he does general foxy things. He sure is cute though! He came up right next to the bus and let people get very close to him to take pictures, so I think he is used to getting food from tourists and hikers (bad!).
One with detail!
Gray fox
A relative of the llama, they live in high altitudes and travel in large herds. We saw a bunch of them. They are sometimes raised for their wool but there is a large wild population as well.
Rhea (Ñandú)
Basically a small ostrich native to South America. If you have ever puzzled over a photo of a gaucho chasing an ostrich, well, this is it. I saw the rheas from the bus (we had to stop for them to cross the street) so I didn't get a picture, but don't worry, the internet has many.
Sea Lion
You all know what a sea lion is, I just want to show off that I saw babies in the wild!
Awwww
Oh Kelsey.
ReplyDeleteOnly you would dedicate an entire post to wildlife :)