Sarcoptic mange outbreak decimates South American camelid populations in San Guillermo National Park, Argentina

Sarcoptic mange epidemics can devastate wildlife populations. In 2014, mange was first detected in vicuña ( Vicugna vicugna ) and guanaco ( Lama guanicoe ) in San Guillermo National Park (SGNP), Argentina. This study characterized the potential source and the impacts of the outbreak in 2017–2019. Transect surveys indicated a sharp decrease in the density of live vicuña and guanaco by 68% and 77%, respectively, from May 2017 to June 2018. By April 2019 no vicuña or guanaco were recorded on transect surveys, suggesting a near-extinction at the local level. Clinical signs consistent with mange (e.g. intense pruritus, hyperkeratosis, alopecia) were observed in 24% of live vicuña (n = 478) and 33% of live guanaco (n = 12) during surveys, as well as in 94% of vicuña carcasses (n = 124) and 85% of guanaco carcasses (n = 20) opportunistically examined during the study period. Histological examination (n = 15) confirmed sarcoptic mange as the cause of the cutaneous lesions. Genetic characterization revealed that Sarcoptes scabiei recovered from seven vicuña (n­ = 13) and three guanaco (n = 11) shared the same genotype, which is consistent with a single source and recent origin of the epidemic. A governmental livestock incentive program introduced llama ( Lama glama ) in areas adjacent to SGNP in 2009, some of which reportedly had alopecic scaling consistent with sarcoptic mange. We hypothesize that the introduction of mange-infected llama may have triggered the outbreak in wild camelids which has now put them at a high risk of local extinction. This unprecedented event highlights that the accidental introduction of disease may be underestimated at the onset yet can have devastating effects on native ungulate populations with potentially profound effects at the community and ecosystem levels.

Controversies and Common Ground in Wild and Domestic Fine Fiber Production in Argentina

This work analyzes possible obstacles to developing new products or old merchandise using an innovative method. It will look into stakeholders of fine fiber and meat products from three distinctive socioecological systems. Through three case studies, we explore how natural resources management is connected to interests, values, and knowledge by stakeholders, which include government, the scientific community, and people with rural livelihoods. The government vertex is the national and provincial authorities involved with decision-makers at the national and provincial level. The Scientific-Technological vertex includes researchers from INTA, CONICET, and Universities. Rural livelihoods include livestock keepers, farmers, and local people with traditional knowledge. We will address the goods and services provided by two species of wild camelids and domestic livestock. The three cases have both similarities and differences in their focus and common ground of controversial spaces. They create complex networks of relationships and bonds leading to diverse outcomes. Top-down or bottom-up experiences hold distinct epistemology and research consequences, they affect rural livelihoods in various ways. For the three rural livelihoods, meaningful regulations should be endogenous social constructions. However, there are no longitudinal studies on the trajectories of these case studies. Long-term multispecies grazing opportunities are available for the three case studies. It depends on how stakeholders identify flexibility in their common ground to enable resilience to catastrophic events.

ANIMALES E INCAS EN EL OESTE TINOGASTEÑO (CATAMARCA, ARGENTINA)

This paper explores the diverse human practices related to the use of animals during the Inca occupation of west Tinogasta (Catamarca, Argentina). We argue that the Inca state sponsored festivities in the San Francisco site (transitional puna of Chaschuil), where wild animal meat, mainly meat and bone marrow of adult vicuñas, was shared and consumed. These wild camelids were captured during the chaku, a collective hunting regulated by social and cultural mechanisms. Llamas were used as beasts of burden in caravans transporting ceramic vessels (aríbalosandaribaloides) from the pottery production center of Batungasta to San Francisco. We postulate that thearíbalosandaribaloides, which were designed for alcoholic beverages, were lined with camelid bone marrow to make their inner walls impermeable. Lastly, we argue that bones of birds and rodents were used to and the skin of a puma (important symbolic animal for the Incas) was processed in the San Francisco site.