Emiliana:  ”Now we’re gonna lower a little bit our voices and with subtle moves.”

I instinctively follow their lead, moving quietly through this remote facility in Patagonia National Park. Inside the first enclosure, I catch my first glimpse of eighteen Darwin’s rhea chicks—the “charitos” as Alejandra calls them—their tawny feathers a perfect camouflage against the dry grasses.

Brooke: “Around how old are these ones?”

Alejandra (via Emiliana): “Approximately five months old. They’ve finished their two months of acclimatization. They’ve been here longer because we are waiting for the next group to come so that we can release them all in the same group.”

As wildlife coordinator for Rewilding Chile’s breeding program, Alejandra has dedicated more than eight years to bringing these remarkable birds back from the brink. The numbers tell a stark story.

Alejandra (via Emiliana): “We did a study and we realized that we had 22 individuals in the whole park.”

Brooke: “22?! Wow!”

Alejandra (via Emiliana): “It’s nothing. They’re really endangered here.”

What’s unfolding here represents conservation at its most hopeful—the methodical, patient work of bringing a species back from near-extinction. These charitos represent more than just individual birds; they’re living proof that we can repair some of the damage humans have caused to wild ecosystems.

Journey Through Aysén

Welcome back to Rewildology. I’m Brooke Mitchell, and today we’re exploring the remote Aysén region—home to some of Patagonia’s most breathtaking landscapes and ecological treasures, including Patagonia National Park, where an ambitious effort to restore an entire ecosystem is unfolding before our eyes.

Our journey begins as our small plane touches down at Balmaceda’s tiny airport. Together, Hazleena, Nicole, and I meet Carlo, our guide for the next few days in this remarkable but sparsely populated region—an area about the size of Switzerland but with only 100,000 people scattered across its rugged landscape.

The dramatic shift in climate and scenery from our previous location in Pumalín Douglas Tompkins National Park is immediately apparent. The Aysén region represents Chilean Patagonia at its most untamed—a place where the Andes Mountains fracture into a complex mosaic of peaks, glaciers, forests, and steppe.

Driving Along the Carretera Austral

Our journey continues along the legendary Carretera Austral—the Southern Highway—a road that wasn’t completed until the 1980s and still maintains a frontier feel. This ribbon of gravel opened up a previously isolated wilderness, connecting remote communities and making conservation projects like Patagonia National Park accessible to the world.

A Brief Stay at the Base of Cerro Castillo National Park

Our first overnight stop brings us to the base of another spectacular protected area—Cerro Castillo National Park. This relatively new addition to Chile’s park system is dominated by the jagged Cerro Castillo massif, a mountain whose castle-like spires give the park its name. The dramatic, ice-carved granite towers rise directly from the surrounding landscape like something from a fairy tale. If Elsa from Frozen was real, this is definitely where she’d live—it’s that magical and otherworldly.

As the setting sun illuminates the rock face in shades of gold and amber and soft snow falls from cascading clouds, we settle into our homestay at La Casona in the small community outside the park. The park protects diverse ecosystems from Patagonian steppe to Nothofagus forests, serving as a crucial ecological connector between the temperate rainforests to the north and the arid grasslands to the south.

General Carrera Lake & the Marble Caves

We pause our drive for a boat tour of the famous Marble Caves. As our small boat heads toward these remarkable formations, I’m struck by the lake’s otherworldly blue color. The distinctive turquoise hue comes from rock flour—glaciers grinding the mountains into a fine powder that remains suspended in the water.

The caves themselves defy adequate description. Carved by 6,000 years of wave action, these smooth marble chambers create cathedral-like spaces where swirling patterns of white and gray marble are reflected in the luminous blue water below. Our boat glides through formations with names like the Cathedral, the Chapel, and the Marble Cave, while the captain points out how the caves change color throughout the seasons.

What makes these formations even more remarkable is that we’re only seeing their tips. These caves are actually the exposed marble tops of monoliths that extend hundreds of feet below the water’s surface—just the small part above water that has been sculpted by thousands of years of waves.

As we continue south after our boat tour, the landscape opens up dramatically. The dense forests give way to the Patagonian steppe—a vast expanse of golden grasses where the eye can travel uninterrupted for miles. After an overnight in the frontier town of Cochrane at Ultimo Paraiso—with its rustic charm and spectacular stargazing—we finally arrive at our destination: Patagonia National Park.

From Estancia to National Park

Stepping out at the park headquarters, I stop to take in the beauty of this landscape. Unlike the dramatic peaks of Torres del Paine or the lush forests further north, Patagonia National Park offers a different kind of grandeur—vast open spaces where your eye travels across golden grasslands, punctuated by meandering rivers and framed by distant mountains.

This park represents something truly revolutionary in conservation history. Just fifteen years ago, this was Estancia Valle Chacabuco—a massive sheep ranch where overgrazing had degraded once-rich grasslands. The transformation began when Kristine and Douglas Tompkins purchased the 200,000-acre property in 2004 through their foundation, with a vision to restore the natural ecosystem and donate it as a national park.

As we tour the beautifully designed visitor center, with its museum and restaurant built from local stone and recycled wood, we learn how the park came to be. The park sits in a unique position as an east-west valley that creates a pass over the Andes Mountains, making it a natural corridor for wildlife movement between Argentina and Chile.

The park’s formation was finalized in 2018, when Chilean President Michelle Bachelet and Kris Tompkins signed a decree officially creating five new national parks. Patagonia National Park combined the former Estancia Valle Chacabuco with the neighboring Jeinimeni and Cochrane National Reserves to create a protected area of approximately 640,000 acres.

What makes this land particularly special is its location in a transition zone between the arid Patagonian steppe to the east and the southern beech forests to the west. This creates a remarkably diverse landscape within a relatively small area.

The Rewilding Work Begins

The restoration work began immediately after the Tompkins’ purchase, with the removal of hundreds of kilometers of fencing that had fragmented the landscape. Native grasses were reseeded in areas damaged by overgrazing, and a comprehensive plan was created to reestablish the natural balance of the ecosystem.

As we walk a trail through the golden grasslands, we spot a herd of guanacos—wild relatives of the llama—grazing peacefully on a distant hillside. These camelids are keystone species in the Patagonian ecosystem, and their return in large numbers is one of the park’s greatest success stories.

Throughout the park, evidence of ecological recovery is everywhere—from the increasing numbers of guanacos to the return of pumas and the restoration of native plants. The turquoise waters of the Baker and Chacabuco Rivers cut through the landscape, providing habitat for native fish like perch and pejerrey patagonico, though introduced trout and salmon also inhabit these waters.

But while the guanaco population has rebounded quickly, other species face greater challenges. The endangered huemul deer—an iconic species that appears on Chile’s national coat of arms—numbers only about 1,500 individuals in the wild. Patagonia National Park contains one of the largest remaining populations, with 100-200 individuals roaming its protected valleys.

Bringing Back the Darwin’s Rhea

And then there’s the Darwin’s rhea—a species that was nearly lost from this landscape entirely. To understand this remarkable conservation story, we’ve arranged to meet Alejandra Saavedra, wildlife ranger and coordinator of Rewilding Chile’s Breeding Centre, who has dedicated her life to bringing these remarkable birds back from the edge of extinction. 

Emiliana Retamal, a veterinarian student taking care of the rheas alongside Alejandra, is our translator.

Brooke: “And this is the Darwin’s rhea, right?”

Alejandra (via Emiliana): “Yes, the indigenous name for the species is choique.”

Brooke: “Mm, beautiful.”

Alejandra (via Emiliana): “The charitos are the babies. Now, in the cages, we only have the charitos, the babies. 18 [of them].”

Darwin’s rhea—called “ñandú” locally, or “choique” in indigenous languages—play a critical ecological role in the Patagonian steppe. Standing about three feet tall with long necks and powerful legs, these flightless birds are nature’s gardeners—dispersing seeds, maintaining grassland health through their foraging, and serving as prey for apex predators like pumas.

Alejandra (via Emiliana): “ So we try to involve the policemen a lot in our work because, thanks to them, we started working with the rheas. They were the ones that found the first two eggs, two orphaned eggs, and they gave them to Tompkins Conservation (now Rewilding Chile). And that’s when Cristián Saucedo said, okay, we need a reproduction center. We need to start doing this work with the rheas and everything.”

As we walk along the enclosures’ fenceline, Alejandra explains how their approach differs from traditional captive breeding programs. Every rhea raised here is destined for release. The process begins with eggs and chicks donated from a reserve called Quimán in southern Chile, about 1,000 kilometers away. This genetic diversity is crucial for establishing a healthy population.

Alejandra (via Emiliana): “In the beginning, we only used the reproductive males and females that we had in the other point, Nandu, and now we’re bringing genetics from another place. So we’re mixing it up a little bit to start liberating.”

Brooke: “Oh, nice.”  

Alejandra (via Emiliana): “So now, we are receiving donations of charitos, and adults sometimes, from the Rivers region. And it’s a thousand kilometers from here.”

The birds spend approximately two months in these acclimation enclosures—just long enough to gain strength but not so long that they become habituated to humans. Finding this balance is an art that Alejandra has perfected over years of working with the species.

Alejandra (via Emiliana): “ So we chose the two-month acclimatization time because of two factors. One, in two months, they look bigger, they have more mass, and they are stronger, taller, and they start running more. So this is the time when they can survive or run from pumas or foxes or anything. And, because in wildlife we have seen that charitos at four months or three months, they start separating from their fathers. So that’s why we chose two months of acclimatization here. And it’s not convenient to have them for more than two months because they start getting like habituated.”

From 22 Birds to 70+

Recent census efforts show the wild population has grown significantly from the original 22 individuals they found in this valley.

 Alejandra (via Emiliana): “The census that we have been doing lately, the last one was approximately 70. We are not completely satisfied with this number. We are going to keep working with them until we see that they can live freely without help from us, but we know that we’ve been doing a great job because we can see it in the numbers.”

The program has created a network of observers throughout the region to help monitor the population.

Brooke: “Do you do citizen science? So if people are visiting the park and they see rheas, can they tell you the data of where they’re at?”

Alejandra (via Emiliana): “ So not the tourists that come can give us this data, but the people that work in the park do. A lot of people that work in tourism with Explora or people that work in CONAF, or the policemen that are further east from us. They are the ones that usually are the first ones to see the notifications and the eggs because they’re way up in the places that this beautiful thing happens. So they are the first ones to tell us where it’s happening, where there are the eggs and everything.”

Local versus Global Extinction of Darwin’s Rheas

As our conversation with Alejandra continues, we delve into the broader context of rhea conservation in this specific region. The Darwin’s rhea isn’t globally endangered, but their situation in Patagonia National Park tells a different story about localized extinction and recovery.

Alejandra (via Emiliana): “ But the thing is that in this place, the rhea is endangered, not globally, But like nationally, it’s not, but the species from this zone, it is really endangered. So that’s when we started working with the reproduction center.”

The historical context explains everything. This entire area was once Estancia Valle Chacabuco, a massive cattle and sheep ranch that profoundly altered the ecosystem.

Alejandra (via Emiliana): “ So the most important difference between this part of the region and the north of Coyhaique is that this place was used for cattle. So this whole terrain was used for that. And there was a lot, a lot, a lot of fences that prevented the animals from going through one place to another. So they were chased, they were captured. [The people] ate the eggs. And so that’s why—they were so close to human population that the numbers started going down.”

Success of the Program & Alejandra’s Personal Goal

Over her eight years with the program, Alejandra has been part of remarkable progress. The breeding program has released 130 animals in total at the time of this recording, and she’s witnessed encouraging behavioral changes in the wild population.

Alejandra (via Emiliana): “ We have liberated 130 animals now. We have been only monitoring and we’ve seen that we’ve been able to make a change. We’ve been seeing a lot of reproduction, more males trying to follow the babies, and more dispersion throughout the territory, so we can see that something is happening, that we are doing something right, but we need to confirm it.”

What strikes me most about Alejandra’s work is her personal goal for the project—she wants to track adult male rheas with GPS to confirm they’re successfully reproducing in the wild.

Alejandra (via Emiliana): “ So it’s difficult for us to track them because we liberate them when they’re babies. So they do tend to grow a lot. With this type of animal, we can’t put the trackers on their feet. It is the most common thing to do with birds.”

Brooke: “Oh, like the leg band?” 

Alejandra (via Emiliana): “Yeah. We can do that because we won’t see them. You see the pampas and this field, we don’t see the feet of the animals. So it would be useless. The neck is the only place that we can see and track it, but the neck grows a lot in some months and years. So, the neck stops growing at the a year and a half mark, and we liberated them when they are like four months. So we can’t put something on that would stangle them. So we put on necklaces that break when they get stuck. So they tend to last like, uh, some weeks and that allows us to see them in their first periods of liberation. But her personal goal here is to be able to mark an adult with a GPS and telemetry, so that we can follow them and see the reproduction. Confirm that they’re reproducing well in the nature and the numbers that they’re gaining in the eggs and everything.”

This desire to verify success through scientific monitoring demonstrates the rigorous approach that underpins this work. It’s not enough to release birds; the goal is to establish a self-sustaining wild population that can thrive without human intervention.

Three Challenges with the Project

But Alejandra faces three major challenges in her work. The first is genetics—a common problem with small, isolated populations.

Alejandra (via Emiliana):  “The biggest problem for us is the genetics.”  

Brooke: “Makes sense with small numbers.”

Alejandra (via Emiliana): “It’s really difficult for us to start mixing it up and start bringing in more genetics. We’re really restricted from the places that we can actually achieve more animals and more genetics from Chile. There’s not a lot of reproduction centers, so we have been working three years now with Quimán and we know that in, I don’t know, one year or two years, we have to start working with them and start working with another reproduction center to start bringing in more genetics.”

The second challenge is community engagement. Despite the program’s success, local communities in Cochrane haven’t fully embraced the project.

Alejandra (via Emiliana): “ And also the second problematic thing that we have with this project is that we have seen that communities from Cohrane don’t really connect with the park, first of all, and with the project, secondly. So we’ve been trying to connect them and bring them in. We’ve been bringing students from the school and people to see the liberations and everything. But it’s been hard because the community doesn’t really connect with the park.

So, they know that we work with this. They know Alejandra from Rhea.  They know that she works with this species, but they don’t really come and involve themselves with this.  And it’s something that it’s, uh, it does belong to them—this situation, the park is their park too. So we really want them to be involved in this and to see that this is, uh, their territory too. Like they need to own it. We want them to own this project.”

The third challenge speaks to the complexity of ecosystem restoration—the need to work holistically rather than focusing on individual species.

Alejandra (via Emiliana): “ But a third important one is that in this steppe, we can see that we don’t only have rheas or guanacos. We have a lot of different fauna and animals here. And for them to all prosper and everything, we need to work as a whole. Not only the rheas.”

Brooke: “Landscape-level conservation.”Alejandra (via Emiliana): “So, the challenge for us is to try to work with the rheas, with the condor, with the puma, with the huemul, and start involving all of the other species and plants and everything, all of it, to grow and start, evolving as a whole. So for us, it’s difficult to gather all of these challenges and work on everything, all of it at once.”

Final Thoughts & Looking Ahead

On our last hike in Patagonia National Park, we’re greeted with gentle rain that turns into snow and covers the ground in a light blanket. As we trek, eyes on the landscape for puma, I reflect on everything we’ve experienced the Aysén region over the past few days—from the ethereal beauty of the Marble Caves to the castle-like spires of Cerro Castillo, from the rich biodiversity of Patagonia National Park to the dedicated conservation work happening at the rhea breeding center.

This region, once dominated by vast sheep and cattle ranches, is undergoing a remarkable transition. My time with Alejandra and the Darwin’s rheas has offered a window into what conservation can look like when it goes beyond preservation to active restoration. It’s not just about protecting what remains, but about bringing back what has been lost.

This is what rewilding looks like in practice.

I’m Brooke Mitchell, and this has been Rewildology. Until next time, remember that in the wild heart of Patagonia, a remarkable story of ecological restoration is unfolding—one bird, one guanaco, one removed fence at a time.

Next Time on Rewildology

We venture deeper into Chilean Patagonia to explore one of Earth’s most dramatic and rapidly changing landscapes—the massive icefields that crown the southern Andes. I sit down with glaciologist Dr. Inés Dussaillant to understand what’s happening to Chile’s glaciers and what their changes mean for ecosystems, communities, and our planet’s future. From ancient ice telling stories of climate history to the urgent realities of glacial retreat, we’ll discover how these frozen giants are both witnesses to and victims of our changing world.

Join Project Patagonia

Before I go, I want to invite you to become part of something bigger than just this podcast. This series is actually one pillar of a larger initiative called Rewildology’s Project Patagonia – where conservation truly meets adventure.

Project Patagonia is built on three key elements: Listen, Experience, and Protect.

You’re already participating in the first pillar by listening to this podcast series. Over the next eight episodes, we’ll journey together through the remarkable Route of Parks of Patagonia, uncovering stories of conservation challenges and triumphs.

But if you’re inspired to go deeper, you can join us in the field for the second pillar – Experience. In April 2026, I’ll be leading a small group of just ten people on an unforgettable expedition to track pumas and explore the majestic mountains of Torres del Paine National Park. This intimate adventure includes expert-led puma tracking, meetings with conservation researchers, hiking through breathtaking landscapes, and even kayaking to the magnificent Grey Glacier. You’ll literally follow in the footsteps of the stories you’re hearing in this podcast.

The third pillar – Protect – is where your passion can translate into direct conservation impact. Through our partnership with Panthera, the global wild cat conservation organization, your support helps fund crucial work to protect pumas and their habitats throughout Patagonia. Your donations help bridge divides between fragmented habitats, develop solutions for human-wildlife conflict, implement wildlife corridors, and support cutting-edge research.

Whether you choose to listen to this series, join our expedition, make a donation, or all three – you become part of a community dedicated to preserving one of Earth’s most spectacular regions.

To learn more about Project Patagonia and how you can get involved, visit rewildology.com/projectpatagonia. Together, we can ensure that the Route of Parks of Patagonia continues to thrive for generations to come.