The Vicuna
Another species of the South American camelid is the Vicuna, which is the smallest of the four different types and equally as cute in the eyes of pint-sized Peruvian children who are often seen taking care of them. The vicuna is most known for producing some of the finest wool in the world, which is very expensive since they can only be shorn every three years.
The Incas were very fond of the animal and raised them primarily for their soft, warm wool, although it was illegal for anyone but royalty to wear the fine threads. The wild vicuna gained a high status in the kingdom and it was forbidden to kill them. Instead, thousands of Indians would surround the animals, count them, and then take the old or sick to the chopping block for their pelts and meat. The best of the herd would be shorn and then released. In this way the best and strongest of the herd continued to breed.
Although the vicuna is smaller in size to its cousins, it is the more graceful and delicate of the species. The long woolly coat is softer and warmer and the hair on the chest and throat is white and long. The length of the head and body are generally about 5 feet and the weight ranging from 35 to 65 kg.
Vicunas are usually shy animals that are easily frightened by incomers because of their excellent hearing. They love to lick stones and rocks, which are rich in salt, and their diet is mostly grass that grows in clumps on the ground in the upper regions of the antiplano.
Because of the poaching and over-hunting of the vicunas, the animal nearly became extinct. When they were declared endangered in 1974 only 6,000 animals remained. Today there are about 125,000 but the IUCN and the US Department of the Interior still considers them endangered.
Serving as the country's national symbol and its motif decorating the Peruvian coin, the vicuna holds a special place in the heart of Peru.
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