The fauna is distributed in three large regions:
Mountain region
The great richness of the place is due to the regulating action on the temperature of the warm current of Brazil, which keeps the sea at nice temperatures all the way to the southernmost end of the zone.
The grey foxes, furry foxes, Patagonian hares and guanacos, which are usually in self-confident groups, are frequently spotted in here, along with the pampas cat, and tayras, Southern river otters,
Lontra provocax, crossbred otters, hares and minks.
In the sea we find right whales, dolphins and killer whales that regulate the population of seals; the single-haired seal, name used to differentiate it from its closest kin, the fur seal or two-haired seal; sea elephants, seals, Commerson's dolphins and common dolphins, the latter still dare to incursion a few kilometres upstream in the rivers.
Diverse bird species: albatrosses, cormorants, seagulls, terns, and Magellanic penguins, the best known of them all and main attraction in the place. Close to the far end of Punta Tombo we can see the colony of cormorants. The black-necked or rocky cormorants nest on the vertical cliffs on the edge of the colony.
Likewise, one can watch colonies of cook seagulls, Austral gulls, flying steam ducks, skuas or holders, two species of oyster eaters and Antarctica pigeons. Other aquatic birds are the great bustard (Otis tarda) and the common grebe. Besides, there are birds of prey as effective as the giant petrel.
Patagonian steppe region
The Patagonian steppe, which develops in the zone of the Patagonia at the foot of the Andes, in Chubut, has a fauna similar to that of the mountain, where the guanacos, the mara or Patagonian hare and the small rhea are typical.
Sub-Antarctica forest
The native fauna is characterised by a species on the brink of extinction: the huemul (
Hippocamelus bisulcus), one of the two native deer in this biomass. The other deer is the native southern pudu, which has become one of the best-known animal species in the region for being one of the smallest in the world. The adult can roughly weigh 10 to 12 kilos and it is hardly above 40 centimetres tall.
We need to add the lutra or neo-tropical otter, an aquatic carnivore, along with the Coypu Nutria (
Myocastor coypus). The South American nutria, a large aquatic rodent.
Representing the felines we find the puma and the Andean or huiña cat, which is 45 centimetres long with a rather long hair and black spots, that inhabits the misty forests of the region feeding on rodents and birds.
A true living fossil is the little monkey of the mountain, a small marsupial almost invisible that dwells in the trunks of a couple of tree species.
The different layers of the forest on the other hand host Chilean pigeons and land species such as the evasive
Scelorchilus rubecula. Or Chucao Tapaculo., along with the condor, which is usually seen even outside the cordillera since recent years. We find Patagonian woodpeckers in the trunks of the trees.
There are birds associated to land environments such as the kingfishers or copetonas, rheas or choiques, and a great variety of small species such as ducks, great bustard, caracaras, southern lapwings, southern mountain parrots, White-crested
Elaenia (
Elaenia albiceps), calandra larks, Patagonian white-throated earthcreepers (Upucerthia albigula),
Rufous-tailed Hawk Buteo ventralis Busardo Patagón, and the Leptasthenura aegithaloides,Plain-mantled Tit-Spinetail amongst many other species.
Amongst the birds of prey the most common are the small hawks, eagles, owls, black-headed vulture and condors.
The native ichthyologic fauna is conformed by the Common Jollytail, the
zebra trout, the almost extinguished Patagonian atherine, the perch or crossbred trout, the velvet catfish and the minute catfish of the streams. The introduction of the salmon and of the exotic trout was inauspicious for these fishes, which ended almost exterminated.
Likewise, we will find abundant reptiles such as lizards of the Liolemus genus and reptiles such as the local matuastos living on rocky terrains and shrubby zones. Amphibious such as the thorny toad and the four-eyed little toad can also be watched.
The yarará ñata or fer de lance is one of the few ophidians that inhabit the region and the only venomous one. Its small size (it is no longer than 40 centimetres) is in accordance with its preys: mice and lizards.
The flying deer is one of the flashiest insects in the place. Other typical insects are the fitófagos, meaning the wood eaters, and an acridio: the nahuelis.
FLORA IN CHUBUT
It is distributed in three great regions:
Mountain region
The mountains, which occupy the northeastern sector of the Province and the Valdés Peninsula coincides with the arid climatic zone of the steppes. Scarce rainfalls turn this region into a kind of desert where only shrubs and grasses resistant to droughts can grow.
The western mountain on the Valdés Peninsula comes with some characteristic shrubs such as the brea, chañar, atamisque, jarilla, prosopis, and scarce grasses. Cactuses and hard and scarce pastures that do not cover the entire surface, leaving grass spots on the bare ground, usually accompany them.
Close to the seashore, where there is more humidity, the terrain is sheathed in abundant vegetation forming a continuous mantle. Here there are bigger shrub-type of trees such as the peppertree, the Patagonian locust tree, the lagoon bush, the calafate and the verbena, with beautiful purple flowers.
We find salty soils on the terrains close to the sea where only species tolerating high salinity such as the jume, the zampa and the vidriera can live. The reed and the salty grass are common in these environments.
Patagonian steppe region
The Patagonian steppe, which develops in the Patagonian zone of Chubut on the foot of the Andes, is the most extensive domain in Chubut and it embraces the coastal zone.
The lack of water, the low temperatures, the dryness of the air, the violence of the winds, and the deficiency of its sandy and stony soils regarding organic material, determine a hostile environment where no trees grow, and the few cultivated ones are characteristic for having their treetops bent by the action of the wind, hence they are called the flag trees.
A scattered, dwarfed and leafless shrubby steppe hardly survives in here. Scarce vegetation, spread, low and compact that leaves parts of bare ground. The calafate, the cat's claw, the zampa, the neneo and the coirón spatter this steppe soil.
There is humid vegetation growing on creeks and on the bottom of the valleys that remain flooded, locally called mallines or vegas, that appear to be true oasis in the desert.
Sub-Antarctic forests
The sub-Antarctic forests grow on a narrow coastal fringe that extends from north to south alongside the Andean cordillera, west of the Province of Chubut. They are very humid and thick forests that could be considered true jungles due to their leafiness provided they were not growing in a cold weather like that in the region. The predominant trees are the southern beech, the lenga beech and the coihue, along with radales, cypresses of the cordillera, alerces, palo santos or white sages, also known as incense trees, white voquis, hazelnut trees, maquíes, calafates, maitenes, brooms and arrayanes. The coligüe cane, very solid and with hard leafs, also thrives amongst these tree species.
Iguazu Falls
