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Feral Chital Documented Across Three Argentine Ecoregions

Male chital in Ranthambore National Park, India
Research · Ecology

Researchers have compiled 32 records of feral chital (Axis axis) from central and northern Argentina, providing the first consolidated evidence of the introduced deer in the Dry Chaco, Humid Chaco and Espinal ecoregions.

The records span 2018–2025 and were assembled from direct observations by the authors, personal communications, digital media and citizen-science platforms. The researchers evaluated the available visual evidence together with geographic and date information before including the records.

Twenty records came from the Dry Chaco, eight from the Humid Chaco, one from the Espinal and three from transition zones between the Dry Chaco and Espinal. The records covered seven provinces: Córdoba and Chaco with ten each, Santiago del Estero and northern Santa Fe with four each, San Luis with two, and Salta and Formosa with one each. Records occurred in forest patches, protected areas, urban or peri-urban settings, transition zones and productive landscapes. The authors particularly highlight new records in Copo and El Impenetrable national parks.

The authors stress that these occurrence records do not provide estimates of abundance, population trends, habitat selection or dispersal routes. Nor do the available records by themselves demonstrate local reproduction or established populations at every new locality. They nevertheless describe the compiled evidence as an early warning of chital presence in areas where feral occurrence had not previously been documented in a consolidated way.

Sources and image credit

  1. Wajner, M., Pernazza, G. B., Laitan, G., Merlo, F., Argibay, D. S., Rueda, C., Zamudio, F., & Cirignoli, S. (2026). Primeros registros de la especie introducida Axis axis (Erxleben, 1777) en el centro y norte de Argentina. Notas Sobre Mamíferos Sudamericanos, 8(1). https://doi.org/10.31687/SaremNMS26.1317Primary research article, published 14 August 2026. It compiles 32 chital records from 2018–2025 and provides the first consolidated evidence of feral chital presence in the Dry Chaco, Humid Chaco and Espinal of central and northern Argentina.

Image: Mustang Joe / Wikimedia Commons — chital in Ranthambore National Park, India, 15 February 2025. Representative image for this story; not presented as an animal or scene from the reported study or event. · CC0 1.0 · Source

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