There’s a video doing the rounds on social media in Chile showing a group of wildlife photographers coming within just meters of a puma in the Torres del Paine National Park (Chilean Patagonia), and it’s causing quite a ruckus.
On one side, you’ve got those pointing the finger at the photographers and their guide for what appears to be a major encroachment on the puma’s territory. And on the other there are the photographers who appear in the videos themselves and their supporters saying it was, in fact, the animal who flouted the boundaries.
Having watched the video myself, it's clear that the animal approaches the group, but I’m still siding with the finger-pointers. Why? Because the group – and their guide for that matter – broke the rules. One broken rule leads to another, which we all know creates a slippery slope towards worsening wildlife photography practices, like idiot tourists trying to take selfies with animals…
Above: the viral video shared by Guillermo
Torres del Paine National Park authority clearly states a minimum distance of 50m between animals and people (the rules are in Spanish, so have your translator ready, if need be). And in the video that went viral, which was shared on Instagram by a photographer, Guillermo, who was there that day, we see this rule go out the window.
What we don't see in this video, but which we do in a longer sequence from that day captured by fellow group member and photographer, Belen Etchegaray, is that the puma slowly made its way toward the group, not the other way around, which she says lets them off the hook.
But I still don't buy it. With all due respect, Belen and her crew must hold themselves to higher standards. That 50m minimum distance I mentioned before? Well, the national park also states that it's the tourists' responsibility to maintain it, even if the animal is the one closing the gap.
If anything, Belen’s video is the smoking gun that convicts the group as the guilty party, not the puma, as in none of the frames do the people make any attempt at distancing themselves from the wild cat.
Above: the full sequence shared by Belen Ethegaray
Admittedly, the puma, Diana, who’s well-known to guides thanks to a recognizable cut on her left ear, seemed quite unbothered by the group's presence. In the clips you can clearly see she’s on the hunt for something that’s out of frame, which explains why she’s so unfazed by the humans.
You may now think this works in the group's favor. Nope, in fact, it condemns them even more in my eyes! If the animal is on the hunt, then Torres del Paine is even stricter, stating that the minimum distance extends to 100m.
Call me a bore, but the rules are the rules, and the group didn't take the precautions they promised to when they entered the national park. It doesn't matter if the minimum distance to be kept by photographers is 50m, 100m, or 1000m, these rules are to protect the animals we love while still enabling us to enjoy our beloved craft.
Guillermo, Belen, and the rest of the group seemingly made no effort to backtrack and give Diana the 100m of space she was owed. Flouting rules like these sets a dangerous precedent for animals in wildlife photography hotspots everywhere, not just Torres del Paine National Park.
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