Visiting the big cats: how to see pumas in Patagonia with your own eyes.

Patagonia is not only one of the most diverse flora and fauna and unique geological phenomena in South America. It is also home to the largest concentration of pumas on our planet, where the chances of seeing them up close in their natural habitat are high.
The puma, aka mountain cat, aka keguar, aka Guaraní in Paraguay, was a sacred animal
to the pre-Columbian civilizations of South America. The puma, along with
along with the condor and the snake, symbolized one of the stages of Inca life.
Inca - earthly life, the “middle world”; the condor symbolized the heavenly world, the snake - the underworld. The Incas even compared the outlines of the Peruvian city of Cuzco with a puma: the lower city - the tail, the fortress of Saxahuaman - the head. The image of a puma is also found in the pottery of the Chavin culture. One of the most important sights of Bolivia is the megalithic ritual complex Puma Punku, “Puma Gate”.

But today, one of the main habitats of mountain cats is Patagonia, a geographic region that covers part of the area of Chile and Argentina. Travelers come here not only to see the dazzling glaciers left over from the Ice Age, pink flamingos and lead-blue mountains, but also for the cougars.
In the Torres del Paine National Park, their population is estimated at around 200 individuals. Therefore, specially organized trekking trips to observe pumas offer a high guarantee of a mountain cat encounter, which is highly prized by wildlife photographers
from around the world.
The puma is the second largest member of the cat family,
but it stands apart from its brethren because it doesn't growl, it rumbles,
like a domestic cat and can retract its claws, unlike, for example,
In addition, pumas are solitary, only mothers with kittens live in small “communities”, and adults do not unite into prides. The best time to see cougars
the best time to observe cougars is at dawn or at evening twilight: during the day this predator rests, and hunts in the dark. Early in the morning, the national park staff - trackers - armed with binoculars go out to track the mountain cats in order to radio the guide with information on where to lead the group. However, when looking for a puma, you can orient yourself not only on guides, but also on guanacos: these wild llamas are the object of the mountain cats' hunt, and when they meet a puma, they make very loud characteristic sounds.
Pumas don't attack humans, but if they come nose to nose with a cat.
nose to nose with a cat, it's important not to panic, make noise or try to run away. It is better to calmly wait for the cougar to go on its way. Because cougars are observed at close,
coupled with the majestic mountain scenery and untamed wilderness, the walk in search of cougars is a meditative experience.
Puma trekking may be said to have saved the mountain cat from extinction: for the past century and a half, the people of Patagonia have treated pumas without any piety, and for good reason. People raised sheep, and pumas actively hunted them. In defense of their flocks, the Patagonians nearly exterminated all the pumas. But since the early 2000s, the flow of travelers, photographers, and researchers wanting to see cougars in their natural habitat has begun to bring tangible economic benefits to the people of Patagonia. And it seems that the sacred mountain cats and the people who have settled in its territory are finally learning to live in harmony.