Dear friends of the IDBC,

As you might have heard through the news channels, on Saturday morning 27 February, Chile suffered an earthquake of magnitude 8.5, with the epicenter 90 km north of the town Concepcion.

Although an earthquake of great force, many structures resisted well as the seismic norms in Chile are very strict. The government has mobilized to provide necessary aid in affected areas.

The good news is, with respect to Huilo Huilo and the nearby villages (Neltume and Puerto Fuy), there were no problems. At 600 km from Concepción, the seismic movement was registered at grade 5. No human or structural damage occurred, and everything continues to operate normally.

The airports will be operating normally again shortly and the road network to Huilo Huilo are fully functional.

For any further information please feel free to contact us.

Welcome Message

Dear colleagues and friends:

On behalf of the organizers and Scientific Steering Committee it is a great pleasure to invite you to attend the 7th International Deer Biology Congress to be held in the Huilo Huilo Reserve, township Panguipulli, Chile, 1-6 August, 2010.

This is the first time that the International Deer Biology Congress (IDBC) will take place in Latin America. South America has a high diversity of deer species and represents the only natural radiation of cervids in the southern hemisphere. Holding the congress in Chile will provide many neotropical deer biologist the opportunity for to participate, considering the economic realities of most Latin American countries. At the same time it would be the opportunity for many northern hemisphere deer scientists to visit and learn about the reality of deer research and management in a very unique continent with many unknown and many threatened deer. Additionally, colleagues from Australia and New Zealand can take a comparative look at the same introduced deer species, with the difference that South America has native cervids, camelids and large predators.

We hope to bring together a broad diversity of deer people, covering scientific researchers, conservation specialists, and production specialist among professionals and students. Stimulating plenary talks, workshops and presentations by participants will allow exciting exchanges of ideas and promote new collaborative research among cervid specialists.

We look forward to having you amongst us in August 2010.

The Organizing Committee