Save the Wild Chinchillas (SWC)

About us

Save the Wild Chinchillas Inc. (SWC), founded in 1997, is a US non-profit environmental conservation organization. Save the Wild Chinchillas (SWC) works in Andean Chile to preserve highly sensitive arid habitat where wild chinchilla colonies survive.

Our goal is to restore essential habitat for endangered chinchillas (C. lanigera) while dissuading habitat degradation in this ecosystem. Specifically, we will focus on ecosystem restoration in Quebrada Cuyano utilizing native vegetal species, many of which, like the fauna, are endemic and of grave conservation concern.

In order to meet this goal our objectives are to: educate people (of all ages) about conservation and sustainable living , collect funds to protect habitat, restore the degraded natural habitat of wild chinchillas, and promote studies that will carry this goal forward.

Our main objectives are
• to educate and involve people worldwide in conservation,
• to promote habitat regeneration,
• to create knowledgebase.

Since 1996, we have created and distributed educational materials ranging from children´s stories to scientific publications with the help of artists, students, teachers, scientists, and zoos internationally. We appreciate and continue to utilize popular press to promote awareness of chinchilla habitat preservation in specific, and conservation in general. We work directly with the local community, focusing on creating and enhancing habitat for chinchillas on communal lands.
Seeds are collected from mountains, germinated in our modest nursery, and seedlings transplanting into restoration areas. Until now, we have raised and transplanted 6500 plants. Although we work outside the National Chinchilla Reserve, we support it by compiling reports, conducting scientific training for the guards and sharing field supplies. Our partnership with the local community has strengthened our knowledge and has led to their growing support for local and global conservation. We are proud to say that people from Africa, Asia, Australia, Europe, North and South America have aided in our achievements.

Our purpose is to reinstate habitat not only for wild chinchillas but also for native insect, amphibian, reptile, bird, and other mammalian species, with help from the local populace. In Quebrada Zapallar, we will create exclusive livestock grazing areas, thus curbing grazing of native vegetal communities that support local fauna, including chinchillas

Amy Deane is the President of Save the Wild Chinchilla Inc..

For other net participants we can offer an expert guidance through trained staff, give an expert opinion, procure expert information and establish new contacts in the field of our work.