Chile is home to some 30,000 types of flora and fauna, many of which are endangered. If measures aren’t taken to protect them, more native Chilean species, including the Huemul deer, the Taruca deer and the Andean cat, will become extinct.

Last month, the National Environmental Commission published the results of a study that sought to classify native Chilean plants and animals according to their level of endangerment. The research focused on 35 species and concluded that 20 face a real danger of extinction. The Government now plans to add as many as 150 additional species to the list.

There was some good news however. A few species, though still very much endangered, have experienced encouraging population growth. There are now an estimated 60,000 guanaco living in the Tierra del Fuego area and in the Juan Fernández archipelago, a particular subspecies of sea lion that was once thought to be extinct now boasts a population of almost 7,000.

There has also been some good news of late concerning Blue Whales. A large community of the endangered whales was discovered in 2003 feeding and rearing in an area off the coast of Chiloé. Many of the animals were spotted with young calves, leading the researchers to dub the area a "whale nursery". Blue Whales were hunted heavily in the first half of the 20th century, when the invention of the harpoon gun first made it possible for whalers to kill the fast-swimming creatures. Blue Whale hunting was eventually banned in 1966, but not before the global population of the marine mammals was reduced to a fraction of the estimated 200,000 thought to have been swimming the world's oceans prior to the 20th century. The American Cetacean Society estimates that there are currently only 10,000 to 12,000 blue whales.