Vol. 32 No. 1 (2017)

The Andean Condor (Vultur gryphus): ¿predator or scavenger? Plurality of perceptions between local knowledge and academic discourse in the central hills of Argentina

Abstract

This work explores perceptions related to the Andean Condor (Vultur gryphus) through the traditional knowledge, the practices of the rural inhabitant and the academic discourse associated to the species. The study was carried out in four areas of the central hills of Argentina, in the provinces of Catamarca, Córdoba (Quebrada del Condorito National Park), La Rioja and San Juan. From the perspective of these social actors, the Andean Condor can be valued as a key species, emblematic and worthy of conservation, but it can also be considered as conflictive and that must be eliminated by the hunter behaviour that some locals attribute to it. By means of ethnographic techniques we obtained information that evidenced the existence of a plurality in evaluations related to the Andean Condor, considering the local and the academic discourses, especially the differential perceptions regarding their eating habits, finding a contrast between the narratives in which the conservationist perception of the settlers of the park and the academy coincides, and the view of the settlers of the other three study areas. Systematized data show the simultaneity of perceptions associated with individual and collective knowledge about the human–animal relationship, identifying aspects ranging from the criteria associated with biocultural importance and conservation of the bird, until its negative valuation by being considered a threat for the livestock production.

 

References

How to cite

Jessica Manzano-García , David Jiménez-Escobar , Rebeca Lobo Allende, Verónica B. Cailly-Arnulphi (2017). The Andean Condor (Vultur gryphus): ¿predator or scavenger? Plurality of perceptions between local knowledge and academic discourse in the central hills of Argentina. El Hornero, Vol. 32 No. 1 (2017), 29-37. https://doi.org/10.56178/eh.v32i1.531

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