Close encounters in Chubut.

• Author: Boersma, P. Dee
• Position: Penguins in Argentina

Patagonia is a landscape of extremes, a spectacle of nature. Situated between the Andes and the Atlantic, it is a desert -- sparse vegetation, little rainfall -- where wind swirls in dust devils. Thousands of years of grazing -- by rheas, guanacos, maras (a relative of the capybara), and now, sheep-have created a landscape of prickly, spiny, that is, well-protected, plants. But wildlife thrives there. And close by, at the interface between the desert and the ocean, seabirds are found by the millions. It is this accessibility and proximity of wildlife to civilization that draws tourists by the thousands to Patagonia. The airport at Trelew, Argentina, in the Province of Chubut, is a gateway to wildlife -- from the armadillo to the southern right whale.

In 1981 a Japanese company asked Argentina for a concession to harvest forty thousand penguins the fint year and eventually four hundred thousand birds per year, to be used in the production of food, oil, and high-fashion gloves. Public outcry resulted in the establishment of the Magellanic Penguin Project in 1982, by the Wildlife Conservation Society (WCS), a division of the New York Zoological Society, and the Province of Chubut's Office of Tourism. Recognizing the living resources in Chubut, the provincial government created more than a half-dozen wildlife reserves along its coast, which it manages. The purpose of the Penguin Project is to monitor the population size and provide scientific information to manage penguins and tourism at Punta Tombo, part of the extensive reserve system in Chubut.

Our studies on penguin, tourists, and the wildlife of Punta Tombo are designed to determine how best to ensure that the penguins are protected and to alert the province and people of Argentina to threats that could rupture the sustain ability of tourism and wildlife. Since the study began, three Argentines and two Americans have earned their Ph.D.s working on Magellanic penguins. In addition, five Argentines have earned their biologist degree. Former students are now training others in conservation biology and working to sustain the wildlife of Argentina by promoting nonconsumptive uses such as tourism.

While the Penguin Project's focus is penguins because they are what tourists come to see, the variety of wildlife at Punta Tombo may surprise many visitors initially drawn there by the penguins. Guanacos, sea lions, and a variety of seabirds, such as the dolphin gull, also live at Punta Tombo. One of the most beautiful species of gulls, dolphin gulls are highly social and colorful. Actually scavengers, they often nest where there are other seabirds. Even the rare pampas cat has been spotted, on occasion, napping in an unused penguin nest.

A three-mile projection of land that just out into the South Atlantic, the five hundred-acre Punta Tombo reserve is home to the largest colony of Magellanic penguins known on the South American continent. It provides nesting ground to around a half million penguins each year. From September to April...