Animal Info - Chile

Threatened Species, Environmental and Social Data (Mammals, Biodiversity/Ecosystems, Population, Area/Land Use, Protected Lands, Economy, Education), References and Links

Threatened Species

Threatened Species: The following list includes all mammals which occur in Chile and are rated as Critically Endangered (CR), Endangered (EN) or Vulnerable (VU) in the 2004 IUCN Red List of Threatened Animals.

Critically Endangered:
- Short-tailed Chinchilla (Chinchilla brevicaudata).
Endangered:
- Andean Cat (Oreailurus jacobita).
- Blue Whale (Balaenoptera musculus).
- Marine Otter (Lontra felina). (Previously Lutra felina.)
- Sei Whale (Balaenoptera borealis).
- South Andean Deer (or Chilean Huemul) (Hippocamelus bisulcus).
- Southern River Otter (Lontra provocax). (Previously Lutra provocax.)
Vulnerable:
- Andean Hairy Armadillo (Chaetophractus nationi).
- Atacama Myotis (Bat) (Myotis atacamensis).
- Chilean Shrew Opossum (Rhyncholestes raphanurus). (Endemic to Chile.)
- Humpback Whale (Megaptera novaeangliae).
- Isla Mochu Degu (Octodon pacificus). (Endemic to Chile.)
- Juan Fernandez Fur Seal (Arctocephalus philippii). (Endemic to Chile.)
- Kalinowski's Mastiff Bat (Mormopterus kalinowskii).
- Kodkod (Chilean Cat) (Oncifelis guigna).
- Long-tailed Chinchilla (Chinchilla lanigera). (Endemic to Chile.)
- Magellanic Tuco-tuco (Ctenomys magellanicus).
- Monito del Monte (Marsupial) (Dromiciops gliroides).
- Smoky Bat (Amorphochilus schnablii).
- Southern Pudu (Pudu pudu).
- Sperm Whale (Physeter catodon).

Environmental and Social Data

Mammals

Total number of species: 91 (Groombridge & Jenkins 1994)
Number of endemic species: 16 (Groombridge & Jenkins 1994)
Number of threatened species: 1996: 16* (18 % of total species) (IUCN 1996); 2000: 21 (23 % of total species) (IUCN 2000) [*Whales were not listed by country in 1996.]

Biodiversity/Ecosystems

Chile contains the Atacama Desert and Chilean Matorral Global 200 Ecoregions as well as portions of the Valdivian Temperate Rainforests, Patagonian Steppe & Grasslands, High Andean Lakes, Peru Current, and Magellanic Marine Ecosystems Global 200 Ecoregions (Olson & Dinerstein 1998, Olson & Dinerstein 1999)

Population

Population in 1995: 14,251,000 (Natl. Geog. Soc. 1995)
Population density in 1995: 18.8 people/sq km (48.8 people/sq mi) (Natl. Geog. Soc. 1995)
Population in 1998: 14,787,781 (World Almanac 1999)
Average population growth rate, 1980 - 1990: 1.7 % (World Bank 1992)

Area/Land Use

Area: 756,626 sq km (292,135 sq mi) (Natl. Geog. Soc. 1995)
Percentages of primary world ecosystem types:

Other Coastal Aquatic: 5 %
Desert and Semi-desert: 21 %
Polar and Alpine: 7 %
Grass and Shrub: 20 %
Crop and Settlements: 10 %
Interrupted Woods: 7 %
Major Forests: 28 %

(Groombridge 1992)

Percent of land area classified as the following degree of human disturbance: Low: 56 %; Medium: 27 %; High: 17 % (WRI 1994)

Protected Lands

Area: 137,220 sq km (52,967 sq mi) (Groombridge 1992)
Percent of land protected: 11.14 % totally protected; 7.12 % partially protected; 18.26 % totally or partially protected (Groombridge 1992)

Economy

Per capita GNP ($ U.S.) (1991): $2,359 (WRI 1994)
Per capita GDP ($ U.S.) (1996): $8,400 (World Almanac 1999)

Education

Percent of females in secondary education (1989): 78 % (World Bank 1992)
Percent adult literacy: Female: 93 % (1990), 88 % (1970); Male: 94 % (1990), 90 % (1970) (WRI 1994)

References and Links

References: Groombridge 1992, Groombridge & Jenkins 1994, IUCN 1994, IUCN 1996, IUCN 2000, IUCN 2004, Natl. Geog. Soc. 1995, Olson & Dinerstein 1998, Olson & Dinerstein 1999, World Almanac 1999, World Bank 1992, WRI 1994

General Links (After you get to one of these sites, click on the link for Chile): CIA World Factbook, Foreign Embassies of Washington, D.C., Library of Congress - Country Studies, University of Texas - Country Maps, Washington Post - Countries, World Resources Institute - Country Profiles; Links for Chile: The Nature Conservancy - Chile

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Last modified: February 19, 2006;