Grasslands of the World.pdf - Disasters and Conflicts - UNEP

126
Sheep numbers
(millions)
20
15
10
5
0
Figure 4.3
Sheep population by province in Argentinian Patagonia .
SOURCE: SAGPyA, 2001.
Plate 4.1
Merino flock in Patagonia.
Grasslands of the world
1895 1914 1930 1947 1958 1969 1978 1988 1995 2000
Year
Neuquen Rio Negro Chubut Santa Cruz T.del Fuego
Haush and Yámana tribes occupied Tierra del Fuego and surrounding islands
(McEwan, Borrero and Prieto, 1997, and references therein). European contact
with natives began early in the sixteenth century; it is thought that conquerors
named the natives after Patagón, a fantastical character of the Spanish chivalric
tale Primaleón (Duviols, 1997: 129-130). European settlement only began at
the end of the nineteenth century, mostly from Spain and the British Isles, or
companies that established sheep farms (Barbería, 1995).
V.A. DEREGIBUS & M.F. GARBULSKY