Vicuña

:For the city in northern Chile, see Vicuña, Chile

Related Topics:
Chile - Vicuña, Chile

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The vicuña (Vicugna vicugna) is a relative of the llama and a member of the camelid family which lives in the high Andes. It produces small amounts of extremely fine wool – about a pound per year. The Incas raised Vicuñas for their wool. It was against the law for anybody but royalty to wear vicuña garments. Both today and under the rule of the Inca, the vicuña was protected by law. In 1960 there were only about 6,000 vicuñas in the wild due to uncontrolled poaching ever since Spanish conquest of South America. Protection measures were carried out by Peru and Chile, which raised their numbers up to 125,000. Although the number is somewhat comforting, these animals are still classified as vulnerable by the IUCN and endangered by the USDI.

Related Topics:
Llama - Camelid - Andes - Inca - 1960 - Spanish conquest - South America - Peru - Chile - IUCN - USDI

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