ALMA workers rescue abandoned vicuña near observatory
3 March, 2014 / Read time: 1 minute
ALMA Observatory workers rescued a vicuña fawn that had been abandoned by its herd after being chased by foxes. The fawn, only a few weeks old, was weak and the herd left it behind. It was found by the workers on Sunday, February 16 at kilometer 29 of the ALMA interior road linking the camp to the Chajnantor Plateau.
"The animal was weak, without its mother, and we tried twice to reintroduce it to the herd but we weren't successful", said René Durán, an ALMA security team member and one of the workers who found the vicuña.
Crédito: ALMA(ESO/NAOJ/NRAO), R. Durán
Given the circumstances, they placed the fawn in their truck and took it to the observatory camp, where they notified the Agricultural and Livestock Service (SAG).
SAG officers transferred the vicuña to the Wildlife Rescue and Rehabilitation Center at the Universidad de Antofagasta, where the animal is being treated so that it can eventually be released on the altiplano, approximately one year from now.
Crédito: ALMA(ESO/NAOJ/NRAO), R. Durán
Contact:
Valeria Foncea
Education and Public Outreach Officer
Joint ALMA Observatory
Santiago, Chile
Tel: +56 2 467 6258
Cell: +56 9 75871963
Email: [email protected]
