Overview

Vicuñas are the smallest members of the camel family, are social animals who live in family groups of up to twenty-five, and which usually consist of one dominant male and his harem of females and their young.

Details

The vicuña (Vicugna vicugna) or vicugna is one of two wild South American camelids, along with the guanaco, which live in the high alpine areas of the Andes. It is a relative of the llama, and is now believed to share a wild ancestor with domesticated alpacas, which are raised for their fibre. Vicuñas produce small amounts of extremely fine wool, which is very expensive because the animal can only be shorn every 3 years. When knitted together, the product of the vicuña's fur is very soft and warm. It is understood that the Inca valued vicuñas for their wool, and that it was against the law for any but royalty to wear vicuña garments. Both under the rule of the Inca and today, vicuñas have been protected by law. Before being declared endangered in 1974, only about 6,000 animals were left. Today, the vicuña population has recovered to about 350,000, and while conservation organizations have reduced its level of threat, they still call for active conservation programs to protect population levels from poaching, habitat loss, and other threats. The vicuña is the national animal of Peru; its emblem is used on the Peruvian coat of arms representing the animal kingdom. The Vicuña is considered more delicate and graceful than the Guanaco, and smaller. A key distinguishing element of morphology are the better developed incisor roots for the guanaco.[3] Its long, woolly coat is tawny brown on the back while the hair on the throat and chest is white and quite long. The head is slightly shorter than the guanaco's and the ears are slightly longer. The length of head and body ranges from 1.45 to 1.60 m (about 5 ft); shoulder height from 75 to 85 cm (around 3 ft); weight from 35 to 65 kg (under 150 lb). To prevent poaching, there is a round up every year, and all vicuñas with fur longer than 2.5 cm are shorn. The behavior of vicuñas is similar to that of the guanacos. They are very shy animals, and are easily aroused by intruders, due, among other things, to their extraordinary hearing. Like the guanacos, they will frequently lick calcareous stones and rocks, which are rich in salt, and will also drink salt water[citation needed]. Their diet consists mainly of low grasses which grow in clumps on the ground. Vicuñas live in family-based groups made up of a male, 5 to 15 females and their young. Each group has its own territory of about 18 km², which can fluctuate depending on the availability of food. Mating usually occurs in March–April, and after a gestation period of about 11 months, the female gives birth to a single fawn, which is nursed for about 10 months. The fawn becomes independent at about 12 to 18 months. Young males will form bachelor groups and the young females search for a sorority to join. Along with preventing intraspecific competition, this also prevents inbreeding, which can cause a population bottleneck in endangered species as observed with cheetahs. Until recently it was thought that the vicuña was not domesticated, and that the llama and the alpaca were both descendants of the guanaco, a very closely related animal. But recent DNA research has shown that the alpaca may well have vicuña parentage.[4] Today the vicuña is mainly wild, but the local people still perform special rituals with these creatures, including a fertility ritual.