MercoPress. South Atlantic News Agency

Regional News from Pta. Arenas.

Headlines:
Marine Biology PhD course in Punta Arenas
“Ladies exotic adventure”
Ostrich “delicatessen”.

Marine Biology PhD course in Punta Arenas

Magallanes University Punta Arenas campus will begin next semester the first graduate course on Sub-Antarctic Marine Resources. Dr. Andrés Mansilla from the Science and Natural Resources Department will have responsibility over the course that is being organized with other Chilean and international institutions including Sunshine Coast University in Florida and the Research and Environmental Studies Centre of the Leipzig University in Germany. "Our objective is to expand research, promote rational use and conservation of biodiversity and natural marine resources in the extreme south of Chile, plus their interaction with land ecosystems", said Dr. Mansilla. The course is basically two years plus a graduation thesis. Registration will open next December and those selected will be informed in January. The teaching staff will be split in half between Chileans and visiting professors from overseas. "This is our first regular graduate program and represents "a magnificent opportunity for academic excellence, teaching quality and intensive research", indicated Dr. Mansilla who added that "we're determined to become a leading institution in biodiversity and in particular Antarctic and Sub Antarctic marine resources research".

"Ladies exotic adventure"

Eight Italian young females participating in an "adventure tourism" operation financed by the Italian television, are touring several South American countries and this week are expected to arrive in Punta Arenas. "Donnaventura", as the adventure program in known demands the eight chosen ladies to drive powerful 4 wheel drive Mitsubishi L200 Katana 4x4 through some of the roughest roads and tracks of Argentina, Chile, Peru and Bolivia, and while avoiding obstacles also filming videos for Italian television. Apparently the high rating program that has been going on now for fourteen years, this time selected the eight Italian ladies among 12,000 postulants from all over Europe and is basically a challenge for professional women who want to have a go at "a different routine and don't feel intimidated by geography or the environment". Previous "Donnaventura" have included adventure expeditions to the Amazon in Brazil and the Sahara desert. Pro-Chile, the Chilean government sponsored corporation to promote the country will be hosting the four Italian ladies who will be beginning the Chilean leg of the adventure in Punta Arenas this week. "It will be an excellent opportunity to show Europeans the marvels of Magallanes Region, Punta Arenas and the extreme south of Chile. We'll be offering logistical support as they move northward", said Patricia Rojo from Pro-Chile staff. The four Italians have been driving from Buenos Aires all along the Argentine Patagonia and in mid week will leave for Puerto Natales and Torres del Payne. The four arriving participants are a snowboard instructor; a professional dancer, an architect and an academic in Arabic language and culture.

Ostrich "delicatessen"

A local Magallanes Region farmer whose family began with an ostrich farm project ten years ago is now involved in convincing local chefs, and eventually from the rest of Chile, that ostrich red meat not only is lean, tasty and free of cholesterol, but also makes some wonderful combinations. The farm is actually forty miles from Punta Arenas and currently has 450 American and African ostriches in 100 by 15 yards paddocks. Mr. Gerardo Otzen who runs the project that so far has demanded the equivalent 120,000 US dollars, of which a fifth was granted by the Chilean Development Corporation, said that the 300 American ostriches (protected and therefore can't be slaughtered until the third generation bred in farms) and the 150 African have adapted to paddocks and the mix of concentrate and pasture they are fed in captivity. In the open range five American ostriches (ñandúes) in Patagonia feed on the equivalent to a sheep. However the productivity between the local breed and the African ostrich is quiet different. "The main difference is that an African ostrich produces 35 kilos of boneless meat, while the American breed just seven kilos, with food conversion not differing much", said Mr. Otzen. Most breeding now is done through incubation of eggs, "which cuts down on losses and helps with fertility problems", added Mr. Otzen who nevertheless said that "we're not so dedicated to increase the number of ostriches, but rather to have a sufficient stock of meat to ensure the local market a constant supply rather than seasonally". As the farm increases the next step will be to begin exporting ostrich meat overseas taking advantage of the Puerto Natales Mac Lean abattoir that specialize in selling rabbits and hares to the European Union.