Becoming individuals
By Nico Lagos, Field guide and conservationist
Torres del Paine is a unique place to spot pumas. Every morning, when we begin the daily search for our main character, a breathtaking landscape always join us. Although we spend every single day on the same area, every single day is different. Pumas always surprise you.
Rupestre is a very special puma. When you start working with different individuals of pumas, you first recognise some morphological traits to make them easier to identify. Rupestre for example, has pale brown coloration, a white nose with a small scar, and a particular cowlick on the back. But after spending a while with them, you come to realise they have unique personalities, even particular ways of moving through the landscape. There are places they prefer (actually they have favourite spots), some of them are lazier and they behave in a different way among other species.
Rupestre is a tireless mother and a great hunter.
Rupestre is a tireless mother and a great hunter. Unlike other pumas, she’s persistent, and the most important, she’s patient. She can be hours on the ground, quiet, looking at every movement of her prey and waiting for the perfect moment to go to action. I think that’s what makes her a good hunter. She takes her time to assess the situation, calculate everything, make her strategy – instead of just make an approach and run. And when she succeeds and finally got her prey, she really hates scavengers messing with her food, especially birds – she doesn’t allow them even to stay close to it.
you start to share their emotions
By the time you come to realise those particularities among different pumas they suddenly become individuals instead of a species. You recognise them and they allow you to be part of their secret lives, you start to share their emotions, their frustration, their happiness, and inevitably you build a connection with them.
