We assessed whether national parks and other protected lands of Chile
offer areas large enough to maintain viable populations of nine specie
s of large mammals. For herbivores, 79% of the parks are larger than t
he minimum area required to support populations of 500 individuals. Ho
wever, only 45% of the parks are adequate for carnivores. Size inadequ
acies of protected areas may determine local extinctions of mammals de
spite being protected from human interference.