Wild Pumas

Our guide was hopeful that we might see one Puma during our tour of Torres del Paine National Park.  Due to the lucky Puma baseball hat I bought as we crossed into Chile, the Puma spirits looked down upon us and gifted us with a family of three.  Our guide said he averages about one sighting a week so we were very lucky.  He said he has seen these three before and believes there is a mother and two teenagers.  Within Torres del Paine, officials estimate there are between 50 and 100 pumas.  The Chilean government has successfully helped ranchers and pumas coexist. In Argentina, pumas are one of the most controversial carnivores and are not as well protected.

 

Two of the Pumas were sitting on a hill on the right side of the bus. Our bus driver, who was driving slowly in this area scouting for the pumas, pulled over and everyone took pictures through the bus windows as quick as we could expecting them to disappear.  But they sat and posed for quite a while before getting up and crossing the road in front of the bus and meeting up with the third Puma to wander slowly up another hill on our left side.  They continued to meander and took their time before disappearing over the hill.  We were able to watch them for about 15 minutes.  

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I have included lots of pictures because it was impossible to remove any.  All of our pictures were taken through the bus windows and they turned out surprisingly well.  Once they started up the hill to our left, they really blended in with the grasses.  The video was taken by one of the women on our bus.