Ranchers blame their difficulties largely on guanacos, but scientists say a root cause of their problems is a legacy of sheep overgrazing that has led to soil degradation and desertification. (Photo by Sebastián López Brachs)\
Sheep ranchers in Argentina’s Patagonian province of Santa Cruz are proposing to build a wire fence 400 kilometers (250 miles) long and two meters (six feet) high to prevent guanacos from entering their pastures. The ranchers, claiming that growing numbers of wild guanacos compete with their livestock for pasture and water, pitched the plan in early February at a public event in the province’s coastal city of Puerto Deseado. Attendees included Sergio Iraeta, Argentina’s secretary of agriculture and livestock, and Nicolás Pino, president of the Argentine Rural Society, the country’s leading association of agricultural producers and landowners. So far neither the government nor the Rural Society has taken a public position on the proposal. Sheep ranchers in the region have complained for over a decade about the population of guanaco, a South American camelid weighing around 100 kilos (220 pounds). They say the number of guanacos—as well as predators... [Log in to read more]
