GPS tags on eight Magellanic penguins showed larger-than-expected breeding-season feeding areas and different migration strategies. The results are preliminary but can guide possible marine protection next to the Santa Cruz land reserve.
The provincial legislature approved a law allowing the Water Institute and the Infrastructure Secretariat to take urgent action and use direct procurement. The measure seeks to protect supply, but it also triggered a debate over oversight, updated data and planning.
The guanaco population in Santa Cruz has grown from 600,000 in the 1990s to around 2 million today. Biologist Stuart Blake warns that this uncontrolled growth, driven by the lack of predators, the expansion of water sources and abandoned farms, could accelerate desertification of the Patagonian steppe and deepen the crisis in the sheep sector.
Recent satellite images and scientific studies indicate that the Perito Moreno Glacier has moved beyond its historic stability and entered a phase of accelerated retreat. The signal calls for stronger cryosphere monitoring, freshwater management and climate planning in southern Patagonia.