40 Native Animals of Chile - List with Names and Photos

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South America is one of the most biodiverse areas on the planet. For example, in Chilean regions you can find a great variety of fauna. Do you want to discover 40 native animals of Chile?

From Ecologista Verde we invite you to know a little more in detail the fauna of Chile. Read on to learn more about this exciting country and its animals, some of which are endemic and others are not exclusive to this place but are very common.

Huemul (Hippocamelus bisulcus)

The huemul is a kind of deer between 40 and 100 kg in weight, the females being smaller than the males, and the latter presenting an antler. Its long ears and white anal shield are characteristic. Their fur is brown in color, with a slight variation depending on the time of year. It can be found in Ñuble, Chiloé, Aysén and Magallanes. As a curiosity, it is present in the shield of Chile.

This deer is one of the Animals in danger of extinction in Chile, to learn more you can consult this other article.

Llama (Lama glama)

This curious mountain animal, which reaches a withers height of up to 120 cm, is one of the best known in the world due to its curious gesture of spit when threatened. Its fur is very dense, to be able to withstand the low temperatures of its natural environment, brown in color with darker colored legs, face and ears. The flame It lives in the regions of Tarapacá and Antofagasta, between 2,300 m and 4,000 m of altitude.

Puma (Puma concolor)

Another of the native animals of Chile is the Puma It's one of the big felines in the world, being able to weigh up to 80 kg, being the females generally smaller. Its fur is brown, with lighter areas on the snout and ventral area. Its diet is very varied: it includes birds, rodents and large mammals such as the huemul. Its distribution is also very wide, inhabiting areas of mountain ranges between 0 m and 5,000 m above sea level. It abounds from Arica to Magallanes.

Sea lion (Otaria flavescens)

This large marine mammal that generally lives in water due to its diet based on fish, also needs to go ashore to breed. Their limbs, transformed into fins to gain agility in the water, allow them clumsy movements on land. They have a thick layer of waterproof hair and another subcutaneous layer of fat, which allows them to keep warm in cold environments. The males of sea lions They can be almost three meters long, and have longer and more robust hair around the head. It is found throughout the entire Chilean coast.

Degú (Octodon degus)

This curious rodent is another of the native animals of Chile, which has also been adopted as a pet and is characterized by having a tail with long brush-shaped hairs at its end. The degu It has a large head with well developed ears and eyes, and its fur is of a stout type. Is a daytime rodent and they live in large groups that are organized in burrows underground. Their diet consists of roots, pods, seeds, bark, etc. It can be found between Huasco and Rapel.

Nutria (Myocastor coypus)

Coypu It is a large rodent that can weigh between 5 kg and 9 kg. It is of the aquatic type, for which it has membranes between the fingers (interdigital membranes) that facilitate swimming. Their fur is thick and long, brown in color. Like the Beavers, build shelters and platforms on river and lake beds. It lives from Elqui to Malleco, up to 1,100 m of altitude.

Colocolo (Leopardus colocolo)

He placed it It is a type of feline very similar to domestic cats, but larger in general. The color of the coat of this Wildcat It is grayish and yellowish or orange, and has spots on the back and stripes on the nape, up to the shoulders. It is an agile and very slender animal. It is found in the regions of Tarapacá, Coquimbo, Concepción, Aysén and Magallanes, among others.

Image: ElPatagonico

Guanaco (Lama guanicoe)

The guanaco is another of the native animals of Chile and it is another type of camelid related to the llama and the alpaca. being somewhat larger in size (it can weigh up to 150 kg). It has a thick and light coat, with a striking reddish hue on the dorsal areas and white on the ventral areas. It is organized in family groups called "harems", made up of a male and several fertile females, or in groups of males of various ages. Like the flames, they spit at threats, and its main predator is the cougar. It is distributed from Tarapacá to Antofagasta.

Alpaca (Vicugna pacos)

This is another camelid, from woolly fur and of light color, that allows him to live in cold places of high mountain. It measures up to 150 cm to the head and can weigh up to 65 kg. It is a domestic animal, being valued above all for its wool, from which quality warm clothing can be generated. The alpaca in Chile It is found in the Antofagasta, Atacama and Coquimbo regions.

Chinchilla (Chinchilla lanigera)

Chinchillas They are similar to the degus, but without their characteristic tail and being nocturnal, for which they have large, very sensitive whiskers. It weighs up to 750g, and has a small, squat body that helps keep them warm. They feed on a wide variety of plants. It is currently distributed in Aucó, in the Las Chinchillas National Reserve and in La Higuera.

Chilean lizard (Liolaemus chiliensis)

Between the native animals of Chile there are also lizards. This species of lizard is also known as cry lizard or screech lizard, is a small greenish lizard with yellowish longitudinal stripes that cross the back and tail. It reaches up to 30 cm in length. It can be found from Coquimbo to the Los Lagos region.

Atacama Runner Lizard (Microlophus atacamensis)

It is a kind of endemic lizard of northern Chile, currently in a vulnerable state of conservation. It is brown in color with black spots throughout its body, which are usually concentrated on the sides and extremities, and it is large in size, up to 120 cm in length. It inhabits the coastal regions of Antofagasta and Atacama.

Find out more about the fauna and flora of the Atacama desert in this other article by Ecologist Verde.

Birds of Chile

Then to finish this list of native animals of Chile, we leave you some of the birds of Chile, these being some of the most characteristic of this beautiful country:

• Chilean eagle
• Bandurria
• Caiquén
• Carpenter
• Kestrel
• Chincol
• Chuncho
• Black necked swan
• Gay Cometocino
• Condor
• Cormorant
• Diuca
• Flemish
• Huala
• Goldfinch
• Choroy parrot
• Rhea
• Juarjual duck
• Peuco
• Giant hummingbird
• Humboldt penguin
• Magellanic Penguin
• Tagua
• Tapaculo
• Tench
• Tricahue
• Yeco
• Thrush

If you like birds, we recommend that you also consult this other Green Ecologist article in which you will see 112 birds of prey or raptors.

More animals of Chile - video of those that are in danger of extinction

If you want to read more articles similar to 40 native animals of Chile, we recommend that you enter our Wild Animals category.