The Andean Condor: a biocultural keystone species of the South American landscape

Metaphors serve as communication bridges between conceptions generated in different languages and they allow the achievement of intercultural articulations, educational transformations and interdisciplinary integrations. In this paper, we use the “keystone species” metaphor in order to propose the Andean condor (Vultur gryphus) as a “biocultural keystone species” of the South American landscape. This condition is expressed in the substantial role that the condor plays in several cultural domains (e.g., language, myth, art, rite, politics, identity) of a diversity of Amerindian peoples and socio-cultural groups associated with the Andes mountain range. The Andean condor is part of the South American zoo-cultural heritage and has a key role in the region’s biocultural networks. The field of biocultural diversity offers an integrative approach, including theory and applications, to the inextricable links between humans and nature. In the specific case of the Andean condor, this approach promotes an ethical view to the cultural importance and patrimonial value of birds.