VICUNA’s PARADISE ON THE TOP OF THE WORLD – Altiplano-Puna, Central Andes, CHILE

VICUNA’s PARADISE ON THE TOP OF THE WORLD – Altiplano-Puna, Central Andes, CHILE



Vicuñas are native to the central Andes in South America, where found in Peru, North-Western Argentina, Bolivia, and Northern Chile. A smaller, introduced population lives in Central Ecuador.

Vicuñas live at altitudes of 3,800 to 5,300 meters. They feed in daytime on the grassy plains of the Andes Mountains, but spend the nights on the slopes. In these areas, only nutrient-poor, tough, bunch grasses and Festuca grow. The sun's rays are able to penetrate the thin atmosphere, producing relatively warm temperatures during the day; however, the temperatures drop to freezing point at night. The Vicuña's thick but soft coat is a special adaptation which traps layers of warm air close to its body, so it can tolerate freezing temperatures.

The Vicuña is one of the two wild South American Camelids which live in the high alpine areas of the Andes, the other being the Guanaco. It is a relative of the Llama, and is now believed to be the wild ancestor of domesticated Alpacas, which are raised for their coats. Vicuñas produce small amounts of extremely fine wool, which is very expensive because the animal can only be shorn every three years, and has to be caught from the wild. When knitted together, the product of the Vicuña's wool is very soft and warm. The Inca valued Vicuñas highly for their wool, and it was against the law for anyone but royalty to wear vicuña garments. Today the vicuña is the national animal of Peru and appears in the Peruvian coat of arms.

Both under the rule of the Inca and today, Vicuñas have been protected by law, but they were heavily hunted in the intervening period. At the time they were declared endangered in 1974, only about 6,000 animals were left. Today, the vicuña population has recovered to about 350,000 and although conservation organizations have reduced its level of threat classification, they still call for active conservation programs to protect populations from poaching, habitat loss, and other threats.

Until recently, the Vicuña was thought to not have been domesticated, and the Llama and the Alpaca were both regarded as descendants of the closely related Guanaco. But recent DNA research has shown the Alpaca may well have Vicuña parentage. Today, the Vicuña is mainly wild, but the local people still perform special rituals with these creatures, including a fertility rite.

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