In the Shadow of the Torres - finding puma in Chilean Patagonia

[Atdahl]

↑ Ditto!  

 

If you are a cat magnet, where are you going next and how many spots are open? 

[KaliCA]

Amazing experience! So close, like someone said, you’re a cat magnet. 
The Puma look so much like our Florida Panther, which I have yet to see after 7 years living very close to the Florida Panther National Refuge. There are only about 200 left. 
How does this number compare to the number of Puma in Torres del Paines?

Thank you for sharing your excellent adventure. 

[Kitsafari]

oooooohhhhhh, literally took your breath away, and got your heart pumping fast! lucky lucky you! 

I didn't realise there could be so many puma tourists in the park!

[pomkiwi]

7 hours ago, KaliCA said:

Amazing experience! So close, like someone said, you’re a cat magnet. 
The Puma look so much like our Florida Panther, which I have yet to see after 7 years living very close to the Florida Panther National Refuge. There are only about 200 left. 
How does this number compare to the number of Puma in Torres del Paines?

Thank you for sharing your excellent adventure. 

The Florida panther is closely related to the puma found in Patagonia but I believe is smaller. 
Numbers seem similar although a detailed census is very difficult. We were told that there are around 50 puma that use the estancia regularly and estimates of the total number in the region is around 200.

[pomkiwi]

6 hours ago, Kitsafari said:

oooooohhhhhh, literally took your breath away, and got your heart pumping fast! lucky lucky you! 

I didn't realise there could be so many puma tourists in the park!

We were just outside the national park. The estancia we were in limits guests to a maximum of around 20 at any one time. Generally each group is quite small and keeps to a distinct area of the estancia but we ended up joining with other groups because puma sightings had been so scarce on our first two days.

 

Anyone in the national park can look for puma but they must stay on the roads and official paths.

[Towlersonsafari]

Wow to be "stalked " by a puma- do you have sympathy for the guanaco's @pomkiwi?

[pomkiwi]

Just to finish off the story of the hunting puma:

 

The puma kept going and went behind a small hill close to the cars. One of the tracker went up another small hill and identifies her target as two guanaco.

 

We walked over and took up a position where we could see the guanaco and waited. The guanaco were close the the hill hiding the puma but never close enough - a puma needs prey to be closer than 5m and ideally 3m to be able to catch them - this is why almost all successful hunts are at night when their silence and the poor night vision of their prey aids them.

 

At one point she looked over the top of the hill (the heat haze made getting a sharp photo impossible):

 

 

She retreated again but eventually the guancos on higher hills further away spotted her and the alarm calls started.

 

It took a while but the targets finally realised this was about them and beat a retreat:

 

 

We decided that this was a good time to head away. The other grouped stayed and watched her head further across the grassland in the direction of other groups of guanaco but she didn't hunt.

 

Edited May 25 by pomkiwi

[pomkiwi]

Follow the Puma

 

The following day we were largely on our own There was a lot more cloud and a different feel to the dawn.

 

 

 

We turned on to the road by Lake Sarmiento and rather than turn into the hills J-P started to search for a puma that Marciel had previously caught a glimpse of. She was a young female named Sol and was moving away from us in the bush between the road and the lake. J-P decided that we would follow her on foot and we set off through easier terrain than on our first day.

After half a mile or so we saw her:

 

She kept up a steady pace below us weaving in and out of small bushes:

 

 

Sometimes she would turn towards us:

 

Then she would completely disappear from view in thickets:

 

She then climbed up a small hill headed towards the road but where the bush was thicker. We followed her (because why wouldn't you follow an apex predator into bush you can't really see through). We would lose sight and then catch a glimpse of her moving:

 

She was following a scent of some description and was turning back nd forth and sometimes doubling back. Every so often we found ourselves face to face:

 

 

Before she would turn away and move back into cover:

 

On on occasion tshe trotted straight towards us but was focussed on something else completely:

 

 

 

Even in grass she was difficult to spot even at close range:

 

She stopped and looked intently at the hills behind us and over the road:

 

The object of her interest was another female puma descending those hills:

 

 

 

This large female was named Rupestre and was the 'star' of the episode of the BBC series Dynasties that was devoted to pumas. We were to see more of her later but in the meantime we turned away to check on Sol who had settled to a vantage point:

 

By now we had gne down to the road - about 1.5 mies from where we had left the cars. When we turned back after 30 seconds the large leopard opposite had disappeared - at one point later on there were 8 people searching for her on the hill and from vantage points but she remained hidden for the next few hours.

Just as our thoughts were turning to lunch Sol decided to  move again so we scrambled back up the slope we had just come down. We then played search the puma again but not for long as she was sniffing through the bush just in front of us:

 

 

At one point she jumped towards us but turned away to continue following the scent:

 

She then headed away back in the direction she had come and Luis and Marciel brought the cars. We headed to where she had been going. She gave one last glance back, dropped down into thick bushes and settled down to sleep.

 

The morning had lacked the drama (and sunshine of the previous day) but we had spent 4 hours following a single puma and at times had come close to her in thick bush which at times felt very intense. There had been another group on the road below us at one point who could not enter the estate, one of them showed us a photo of our group searching on the top of the hill while the puma was at directly below us only 3m away!

 

Since the puma was asleep we settled down to lunch and a rest.

 

Edited May 27 by pomkiwi

[TonyQ]

What a wonderful morning, brilliant sighting and photos 

[jeffb]

Amazing sunrise and puma photos. Hope I do half as well!

[janzin]

Ditto to what jeffb said!! Another wow! And beautiful light that morning on the torres.

[pomkiwi]

Quiet Time

 

We settled down to lunch scattered along the slope looking down on to the bush where the puma had hidden herself. The weather had closed in somewhat with the stunning mountain views we had got used to now largely obscured:

 

The most impressive thing however was the silence - for half an hour we sat in complete silence - certainly a rare experience for me and I guess for most of us nowadays.

 

Sol woke up and went back to the ridge. We followed and took the opportunity for another environmental portrait:

 

However she fairly quickly headed downhill and found a new sleeping spot. We waited for another hour with only a distant Aplomado Falcon to keep us interested:

 

It did not appear that she was going to move anytime soon and Marciel let us know that the puma on the other side of the road had revealed herself. We returned to the cars and drove for a couple of minutes before walking a little way up the hill. The puma was sitting and crying a little like an oversized domestic cat. J-P told us that she was in heat and was trying to attract a male. Sol had been in heat the previous week.

 

 

As previously mentioned this puma Rupestre is regarded as the dominant female in this area and was featured in the BBC documentary Dynasties raising her four cubs. One of the cubs was called Dania and this was the puma we had seen lying in the grass on the first two days.

Eventually Rupestre gave up calling and headed downhill in the deceptively lazy manner that we had become used to:

 

Once again we tried to get in front of her but once again we found it hard to keep up. At one point we thought that we had managed it only for her to turn and come parallel to us:

 

We tried once more and she passed very close to us - once again the instruction to "Stay completely still" was followed without debate:

 

However once she had given us a quick look we were dismissed as being of no relevance and she carried on. She jumped a small river but as we were behind her I couldn't get an interesting photo. She went up on to the road and J-P felt this was a good time to bid her and the pumas farewell:

 

 

 

There was however to be one more twist to our tale.....

[pomkiwi]

Confirming Status
 

Rupestre headed up the hill from the road in the directionof where we had last seen Sol. The prospect of some interaction meant that we followed on.

 

She worked slowly, carefully and silently up through the bush:

 

 

 

 

It was fascinating to watch her inch forward:

 

Her concentration was absolute:

 

 

We could also see Sol who must have been aware of Rupestre but it didn't look that way:

 

Suddenly the larger cat started to move:

 

Sol reacted and the two chased just below us:

 

 

 

The cats stopped for a second:

 

Sol then adopted a submissive posture albeit with a snarl:

 

The whole sequence from the first movement to submission took laess than 7 seconds..

Sol quietened down and remaned immobile for a few more seconds while Rupestre appeared to ignore her:

 

 

Sol saw her chance and leapt away, disappearing into the bush:

 

Rupestre then proceded to sniff around much as the younger puma had done that morning:

 

At one point showing Flehmen behaviour:

 

She then went back to the ridge looking over the road:

 

At this point we all agreed that it was time to leave. We crossed over and walked back up to the cars. We had spent the whole day within a couple of miles from where we had started and followed the pumas almost exclusively on foot. Although it may have lacked the sunshine, scenery and 'wow' factor of a mother and cubs the day had felt much more intimate in terms of the contact with the two pumas and insights into their lives and behaviour. A tremendous final day.

 

As a special treat we were allowed one landscape shot on the way back to the hotel 😁

 

Edited May 30 by pomkiwi

[pomkiwi]

Final Thoughts

 

This was my third visit to the Torres del Paine and Chilean Patagonia and it did not disappoint. My goal was to spend time with and photograph pumas and this was achieved.

 

The weather was incredibly good - to spend 8 days in Patagonia with no wind, no rain and 7 of them sunny must be regarded as extremely rare even if autumn and spring provide the best chance of more settled weather.

 

Far South were a good company to go through - they were reliable and honest and I felt very fairly priced. Given that any puma tracking tour that allows you to go off road is likely to be on the same Estancia I think Far South provides the best option and it makes sense to book directly with them. J-P, Luis and Marciel were very good indeed - all were friendly and helpful and superb at spotting puma and getting us into good positions if possible.

 

Definitely take good boots and thick/thorn resistant trousers - you will need them if you are following a puma.

 

Be patient - there may be 50+ puma in the Estancia but it is large and some puma do not want to be found while others are relaxed around humans. As with our first two days something may happen that markedly reduces puma activity (for us there was a kill that the guides found on Day 3 that probably attracted a large number of animals). Be prepared for quiet times and enjoy the landscape if the weather is kind. The guides see their main role as finding puma and are not likely to be diverted from this on puma tracking days if it reduces the chance of finding puma - it should be regarded as a single species trip with other sighting a bonus.

 

Although Chile and especially Patagonia are a long way from almost everywhere, services are good and transport links generally reliable in the end even if delays are not unusual (mainly a function of distances and weather).

 

Overall an experience I fully recommend - please contact me if I've missed anything or if you have questions I might be able to help with.

 

[Atdahl]

Awesome report @pomkiwi.  All your great encounters and fantastic photos will certainly go a long way to increasing the number of ST'ers going to Chile I bet.    

[Towlersonsafari]

wonderful report @pomkiwithanks 

[pomkiwi]

@Atdahland @TowlersonsafariThank-you it was a lovely trip and an enjoyable report to write 

[janzin]

Awesome report and certainly gave me some insights into what to expect for my upcoming trip. Now I'm more excited than ever!

 

I may have some questions for you as we get closer, especially photographic questions which perhaps I should ask in a private message.

[TonyQ]

@pomkiwiI am really pleased the trip went so well for you.

You had wonderful sightings and your photos are superb.

The advice you give is really good.

Thank you for posting such an enjoyable report.

Edited May 30 by TonyQ

[jeffb]

@pomkiwiFantastic photos. Do you wish you had carried 2 bodies, given how close the pumas got to you at times? I have a 55-300 and a 170-500 and 2 crop sensor bodies, and wondering if its worth carrying both of them all the time. Otherwise I would just go with the longer lens.

[janzin]

2 hours ago, jeffb said:

@pomkiwiFantastic photos. Do you wish you had carried 2 bodies, given how close the pumas got to you at times? I have a 55-300 and a 170-500 and 2 crop sensor bodies, and wondering if its worth carrying both of them all the time. Otherwise I would just go with the longer lens.

If you plan on any landscapes I'd think you'd need the shorter lens. And the landscapes are incredible!  Also, I think he WAS using two bodies, a Z9 and a Z6ii with the shorter lens. But I should let @pomkiwianswer

Edited May 30 by janzin

[pomkiwi]

8 hours ago, jeffb said:

@pomkiwiFantastic photos. Do you wish you had carried 2 bodies, given how close the pumas got to you at times? I have a 55-300 and a 170-500 and 2 crop sensor bodies, and wondering if its worth carrying both of them all the time. Otherwise I would just go with the longer lens.

@jeffbThannk-you. As @janzinsays I had two bodies with me, one was a Nikon Z9 with a 180-600 lens and the other a Z6ii with a 24-200 lens (both of these are full frame bodies). All of my puma pictures were taken with the Z9, I did put the 1.4 TC on the longer lens one lunchtime but this was more for fun and because our lunch spot was a long way from where the pumas were resting. When we hiked from the car I just took the Z9 and the long zoom - it kept things simple and it was easy to move.  I did see some people taking 3 different camera bodies when they walked but to be honest I just think they tripped over them when action started....

 

For the pumas the longer lens was ideal. The only occasions that it wasn't were on the couple of occasions when one approached quickly from a distance and went right past us - on those occasions I wouldn't have had time to swap bodies unless both were beside me and set up which was not practical. To be honest those close encounters were pretty fast and when the puma got 'too close' I was happy to enjoy the moment.

 

Definitely take a shorter lens. I think the 55-300 would be OK most of the time as the landscapes are so large but it does depend on your style, if you can pick up something shorter such as a 16-80 or even 24-120 for a crop sensor that would be better I think. Another trick I used was to merge as sequence of images taken around 100mm focal length to produce a panorama - Lightroom handles this very well and with a reasonably steady hand you don't even need to use a tripod.

[jeffb]

Thanks for the replies @janzinand @pomkiwi. I do have an 18-55 which I will also take for landscape shots. My question was really directed at the hikes for pumas, where you said you only took one body with the longer lens. I have a double harness that holds two bodies or one body and a pair of binoculars, so I am thinking of having the 170-500 on one side and the 55-300 on the other side. In theory, if a puma started walking directly toward me, I could switch from the longer lens to the shorter quite quickly as I'm comfortable using the shorter lens handheld. But I expect to rely mostly on the long lens for puma photography, and it would be easier to walk with just the one body, which is why I asked the question.

[Zubbie15]

Great trip report @pomkiwi, you really had a lot of excellent sightings.  Thanks for sharing. 

[Kitsafari]

Brilliant report. Just amazing at how close the puma can get to you, and how calm and relaxed it is. thanks for giving us useful details!