Vicuña#Subspecies

{{Speciesbox

| name = Vicuña

| image = Vicuna (89163948) (cropped).jpg

| image_caption =

| status = LC

| status_system = IUCN3.1

| status_ref = {{cite iucn|author=Acebes, P.|author2=Wheeler, J.|author3=Baldo, J.|author4=Tuppia, P.|author5=Lichtenstein, G.|author6=Hoces, D.|author7=Franklin, W.L.|year= 2018|page= e.T22956A145360542|doi= 10.2305/IUCN.UK.2018-2.RLTS.T22956A145360542.en |title= Vicugna vicugna |errata=2019 |access-date=15 February 2020}}

| status2 = CITES_A1

| status2_system = CITES

| status2_ref = {{Cite web|title=Appendices {{!}} CITES|url=https://cites.org/eng/app/appendices.php|access-date=2022-01-14|website=cites.org}}{{NoteTag|Except populations of Argentina (populations of provinces of Jujuy, Salta, and Catamarca and semi-captive populations of provinces of Jujuy, Salta, Catamarca, La Rioja, and San Juan), Chile (populations of the region of Tarapacá and of the region of Arica and of the region of Parinacota), Ecuador (whole population), Peru (whole population), and the Plurinational State of Bolivia (whole population), which are included in Appendix II.}}

| taxon = Lama vicugna

| authority = (Molina, 1782)

| range_map = Extensión de la vicuña.png

| range_map_caption = Vicuña range

| synonyms = *Vicugna vicugna Molina, 1782

Lama gracilis? Gervais & Ameghino, 1881

}}

The vicuña (Lama vicugna) or vicunaThe spelling vicuña is not even mentioned in some dictionaries, for example the [https://www.macmillandictionary.com/dictionary/british/vicuna?q=vicuña Macmillan Dictionary]. (both {{IPAc-en|v|ɪ|ˈ|k|uː|n|j|ə}}, very rarely spelled vicugna, its former genus name)The spelling vicugna is so rare in English that it is not even mentioned in the [http://encyclopedia2.thefreedictionary.com/vicuna Columbia Electronic Encyclopedia] or any major dictionary, including the American Heritage Dictionary, Merriam-Webster Online Dictionary, Oxford Living Dictionaries, Random House Dictionary, Collins English Dictionary, and Longman Dictionary of Contemporary English.{{MSW3 |id=14200122}} is one of the two wild South American camelids, which live in the high alpine areas of the Andes; the other camelid is the guanaco, which lives at lower elevations. Vicuñas are relatives of the llama, and are 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 be shorn only 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 on the Peruvian coat of arms.[http://www2.congreso.gob.pe/sicr/cendocbib/con3_uibd.nsf/6E1277485DC359E5052579670074BD9E/$FILE/Ley_1825_02_25.pdf Ley del 25 de febrero, Art. 1]

Both under the rule of the Inca and today, vicuñas have been protected by law, but they were heavily hunted in the intervening period. When 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.

Previously, the vicuña was not considered domesticated, and the llama and the alpaca were regarded as descendants of the closely related guanaco. However, DNA research published in 2001 has demonstrated that the alpaca may have vicuña parentage.{{cite journal |last1=Wheeler |first1=Jane |last2=Kadwell |first2=Miranda |last3=Fernandez |first3=Matilde |last4=Stanley |first4=Helen F. |last5=Baldi |first5=Ricardo |last6=Rosadio |first6=Raul |last7=Bruford |first7=Michael W. |date=December 2001 |title=Genetic analysis reveals the wild ancestors of the llama and the alpaca |journal=Proceedings of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences |volume=268 |issue=1485 |pages=2575–2584 |doi=10.1098/rspb.2001.1774 |pmc=1088918 |pmid=11749713 |id=0962-8452 (Paper), 1471-2954 (Online)}} Today, the vicuña is mainly wild, but the local people still perform special rituals with these creatures, including a fertility rite.{{citation needed|date=February 2022}}

Description

The vicuña is considered more delicate and gracile than the guanaco and smaller. A key distinguishing element of morphology is the better-developed incisor roots for the guanaco.{{cite web |last=Hogan |first=C. Michael |date=7 December 2008 |editor-last=Strömberg |editor-first=N. |title=Guanaco: Lama guanicoe |url=http://globaltwitcher.auderis.se/artspec_information.asp?thingid=42654 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110304004355/http://globaltwitcher.auderis.se/artspec_information.asp?thingid=42654 |archive-date=4 March 2011 |work=GlobalTwitcher.com |publisher=GlobalTwitcher}} The vicuña's long, woolly coat is tawny brown on the back, whereas the hair on the throat and chest is white and quite long. Its head is slightly shorter than guanaco's, and the ears are slightly longer. The length of the head and body ranges from 1.45 to 1.60 m (about 5 ft); shoulder height is from 75 to 85 cm (around 3 ft); its weight is from 35 to 65 kg (under 150 lb). It falls prey to the cougar and culpeo.{{citation needed|date=February 2022}}

Taxonomy and evolution

There are two subspecies of vicuña:

Lama vicugna vicugna
Lama vicugna mensalis

While vicuñas are restricted to the more extreme elevations of the Andes in modern times, they may have also been present in the lowland regions of Patagonia as much as 3500 km south of their current range during the Late Pleistocene and Early Holocene. Fossils of these lowland camelids have been assigned to a species known as Lama gracilis, but genetic and morphological analysis between them and modern vicuña indicate the two may be the same.{{cite journal |last=Weinstock |first=J. |title=The Late Pleistocene distribution of vicuñas (Vicugna vicugna) and the "extinction" of the gracile llama ("Lama gracilis"): New molecular data |journal=Quaternary Science Reviews |date=2009 |volume=28 |issue=15–16 |pages=1369–1373 |doi=10.1016/j.quascirev.2009.03.008 |bibcode=2009QSRv...28.1369W |url=https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0277379109001140}}

Distribution and habitat

Vicuñas are native to South America's central Andes. They are found in Peru, northwestern Argentina, Bolivia, and northern Chile. A smaller, introduced population lives in central Ecuador.

Vicuñas live at altitudes of {{cvt|3200|to(-)|4800|m}}. They feed in the 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 can penetrate the thin atmosphere, producing relatively warm temperatures during the day; however, the temperatures drop to freezing at night. The vicuña's thick but soft coat is a unique adaptation that traps layers of warm air close to its body to tolerate freezing temperatures.{{citation needed|date=February 2022}}

Chief predators include pumas and the culpeo.{{citation needed|date=February 2022}}

Behavior

File:Group of vicuña in Arequipa Region, Peru.jpg

The behavior of vicuñas is similar to that of the guanacos. They are timid animals and are easily aroused by intruders due, among other things, to their extraordinary hearing. Like the guanacos, they frequently lick calcareous stones and rocks, which, together with salt water, is its source of salt. Vicuñas are clean animals and always deposit their excrement in the same place.{{cite book|title = The last of the wild: on the track of rare animals|url = https://books.google.com/books?id=p6DwAAAAMAAJ|publisher = Collins|date = 1 January 1968 |language = en|first = Eugen|last = Schuhmacher|page = 304}} Their diets consist mainly of low grasses which grow in clumps on the ground.{{citation needed|date=February 2022}}

Vicuñas live in family-based groups of a male, 5 to 15 females, and their young. Each group has its territory of about {{Cvt|18|km2}}, which can fluctuate depending on food availability.{{citation needed|date=February 2022}}

Mating usually occurs in March–April. After a gestation about 11 months, the female gives birth to a single fawn, which is nursed for about ten months. The fawn becomes independent at about 12 to 18 months old. Young males form bachelor groups, and the young females search for a sorority to join. This deters intraspecific competition and inbreeding.{{citation needed|date=February 2022}}

Conservation

File:1979 Convention of the Vicuña participation map.svg

Until 1964, hunting of the vicuña was unrestricted, which reduced its numbers to only 6,000 in the 1960s. As a result, the species was declared endangered in 1974, and its status prohibited the trade of vicuña wool. In Peru, during 1964–1966, the Servicio Forestal y de Caza in cooperation with the US Peace Corps, Nature Conservancy, World Wildlife Fund, and the National Agrarian University of La Molina established a nature conservatory for the vicuña called the Pampa Galeras – Barbara D'Achille in Lucanas Province, Ayacucho. During that time, a game warden academy was held in Nazca, where eight men from Peru and six from Bolivia were trained to protect the vicuña from poaching.{{citation needed|date=February 2022}}

To cooperate on the conservation of the vicuña, the governments of Bolivia and Peru signed the Convention for the Conservation of the Vicuña on 16 August 1969 in La Paz, explicitly leaving the treaty open to accession by Argentina and Chile.Convenio para la Conservación de la Vicuña (Wikisource). Source: Registro Oficial N° 144 de 4 de agosto de 1976 (Official Gazette of the Government of Ecuador no. #144, 4 August 1976). Ecuador acceded on 11 February 1976. The Convention prohibited their international trade and domestic exploitation, and ordered the parties to create reserves and breeding centres.{{Cite book |last1=McNeill |first1=Desmond |last2=Lichtenstein |first2=Gabriela |last3=Renaudeau d' Arc |first3=Nadine |date= 23 October 2008|title=The Vicuña: The Theory and Practice of Community Based Wildlife Management |chapter=Chapter 6: International Policies and National Legislation Concerning Vicuña Conservation and Exploitation |chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Buh2fp_NUAwC&pg=PA63 |publisher= Springer|pages=63–64 |isbn= 9780387094755|access-date=15 February 2022}} A follow-up treaty, the Convention for the Conservation and Management of the Vicuña, was signed between Bolivia, Chile, Ecuador and Peru on 20 December 1979 in Lima.{{Cite web |url=http://www.conveniovicuna.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/05/Convenio-de-la-Vicu%C3%B1a.pdf |title=Convenio para la Conservación y Manejo de la Vicuña |author= |work=conveniovicuna.org |publisher=Convenio de la Vicuña |date=20 December 1979 |access-date=15 February 2022 |language=es}} It explicitly allowed only Argentina to sign it if it also signed the 1969 La Paz Convention (Article 12; Argentina joined in 1981), and did not allow other countries to accede to the convention 'due to its specific character' (Article 13). The 1979 Convention did allow the use of the vicuña under strict circumstances if the animal population had recovered sufficiently. In combination with CITES (effective in 1975), as well as USA and EU trade legislation, the Conventions were highly successful, as the vicuña population substantially grew as a result.

The estimated population in Peru was 66,559 in 1994, 103,161 in 1997, 118,678 in 2000, and 208,899 in 2012.{{Cite AV media |url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AQLtpX42sPA |title=Foro "Análisis del Manejo de la Vicuña en el Perú" |language=en |access-date=2024-04-04 |via=www.youtube.com}}{{Cite web |last=Bourge |first=Orlane |date=2024-03-22 |title=Loro Piana criticized for underpaying a Peruvian community producing the world's most expensive wool |url=https://www.newsendip.com/loro-piana-peru-lucanas-wool-vicuna/ |access-date=2024-04-04 |website=Newsendip |language=en-US}} Currently,{{when?|date=February 2022}} the community of Lucanas conducts a chaccu (herding, capturing, and shearing) on the reserve each year to harvest the wool, organized by the National Council for South American Camelids (CONACS).{{citation needed|date=February 2022}}

In Bolivia, the Ulla Ulla National Reserve was founded 1977 partly as a sanctuary for the species.{{citation needed|date=February 2022}} Their numbers grew to 125,000{{when?|date=February 2022}} in Peru, Chile, Argentina, and Bolivia.{{citation needed|date=February 2022}} Since this was a ready "cash crop" for community members, the countries relaxed regulations on vicuña wool in 1993, enabling its trade once again.{{citation needed|date=February 2022}} The wool is sold{{when?|date=February 2022}} on the world market for over $300 per kg.{{citation needed|date=February 2022}} In 2002, the US Fish and Wildlife Service reclassified most populations as threatened, but still lists Ecuador's population as endangered.{{cite web | url = http://ecos.fws.gov/speciesProfile/SpeciesReport.do?spcode=A02L | publisher = U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service | title = Species Profile: Vicuna (Vicugna vicugna) | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090201171201/http://ecos.fws.gov/speciesProfile/SpeciesReport.do?spcode=A02L | archive-date=1 February 2009 | access-date = 4 January 2009}} While the population levels have recovered to a healthy level,{{when?|date=February 2022}} poaching remains a constant threat, as do habitat loss and other threats.{{citation needed|date=February 2022}} Consequently, the IUCN still supports active conservation programs to protect vicuñas, though they lowered their status to least concern in 2018.

In 2015, French luxury group LVMH said that "Loro Piana saved the species."{{Cite web |last=Bourge |first=Orlane |date=2024-03-22 |title=Loro Piana criticized for underpaying a Peruvian community producing the world's most expensive wool |url=https://www.newsendip.com/loro-piana-peru-lucanas-wool-vicuna/ |access-date=2024-04-04 |website=Newsendip |language=en-US}} The Italian company has been criticized for underpaying local communities collecting the wool.{{Cite news |date=2024-03-19 |title=US Lawmaker Demands LVMH's Loro Piana Answer for 'Exploitation' in Peru |url=https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2024-03-19/vicuna-sweaters-us-lawmaker-presses-lvmh-s-loro-piana-on-exploitation-in-peru |access-date=2024-04-04 |work=Bloomberg.com |language=en}} In 2022, the Argentine government's National Council for Scientific and Technical Investigation estimated that "Andean communities receive around 3% of the value generated by the vicuña fiber chain."{{Cite journal |last1=Ros |first1=Carlos Javier Cowan |last2=Marcos |first2=María Florencia |last3=Muro |first3=María Marta |date=2022-06-30 |title=Las vicuñas como problema de gobierno. Gubernamentalidad ambiental a múltiples niveles y disputas por el modelo de aprovechamiento de la especie |url=https://www.redalyc.org/journal/5139/513970379014/html/ |journal=Revista Brasileira de Estudos Urbanos e Regionais |language=es |volume=24}}{{Cite web |last=Bourge |first=Orlane |date=2024-03-22 |title=Loro Piana criticized for underpaying a Peruvian community producing the world's most expensive wool |url=https://www.newsendip.com/loro-piana-peru-lucanas-wool-vicuna/ |access-date=2024-04-04 |website=Newsendip |language=en-US}}

Vicuña wool

File:Vicuña - Chimborazo, Ecuador.jpg in Ecuador]]

Its wool is famous for its warmth and is used for apparel, such as socks, sweaters, accessories, shawls, coats, suits, and home furnishings, such as blankets and throws. Its properties come from the tiny scales on the hollow, air-filled fibres, which causes them to interlock and trap insulating air. Vicuñas have some of the finest fibers in the world, at a diameter of 12 μm. The fiber of cashmere goats is 14 to 19 μm, while angora rabbit is 8 to 12 μm, and that of shahtoosh from the Tibetan antelope, or chiru, is from 9 to 12 μm.{{cite magazine | magazine = Smithsonian Zoogoer | date = January–February 2008 | title = Discovering South America's Camels | first = Mary-Russell | last = Roberson | publisher = Friends of the National Zoo | location = National Zoological Park, Smithsonian Institution, Washington, DC, USA | url = http://nationalzoo.si.edu/Publications/ZooGoer/2008/1/Camelids.cfm | url-status = dead | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20080321024439/http://nationalzoo.si.edu/Publications/ZooGoer/2008/1/Camelids.cfm | archive-date = 21 March 2008 | access-date = 16 May 2010}}

Gallery

File:Escudo nacional del Perú.svg|Vicuña in the coat of arms of Peru

File:Alpaca, Llama, Vicuna (illustration from New Student's Reference Work, 1914).jpg|Comparison of alpaca, llama, and vicuña (1914)

File:Vicuña.jpg|A vicuña on rocky terrain (2008)

File:Vicuñas camino a Geysers El Tatio.jpg|Vicuñas near El Tatio geysers, San Pedro de Atacama, Antofagasta Region, Chile (2011)

File:Female Vicuña running.jpg|Vicuña in Jujuy Province in the Argentine Altiplano (2011)

File:Vicugna-ESO.jpg|Vicuña fawn in the Atacama Desert (2014)

File:Vicugna vicugna Salar de Chalviri.jpg|Vicunas in Salar de Chalviri, Bolivia

References

Explanatory notes

External links

{{cite web |url=http://geocities.com/alpacafibernews/The_vicuna_animal_-_The_precious_treasure_of_the_Andes.htm |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20091021083503/http://geocities.com/alpacafibernews/The_vicuna_animal_-_The_precious_treasure_of_the_Andes.htm |url-status=dead |archive-date=2009-10-21 |title=The Vicuna: the precious treasure of the Andes |work=Alpaca Fiber News}}
{{cite journal | first1 = Andres | last1 = Bayly Letts | first2 = Enrique | last2 = Pasquel Rodríguez | title = Privaticemos las vicuñas: Cómo Eliminar el Peligro de Extinción y Aprovechar su Potencial Económico | trans-title = Privatize the vicunas: How to Eliminate the Danger of Extinction and Take Advantage of its Economic Potential | pages = 69–80 | journal = Revista de Economía y Derecho | volume = 3 | number = 9 | date = Summer 2006 | language = Spanish | url = http://web.mac.com/epasquel/iWeb/Website%20de%20Enrique%20Pasquel/publicaciones_files/Privaticemos%20las%20vicuñas.pdf | url-status = dead | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20090324235625/http://web.mac.com/epasquel/iWeb/Website%20de%20Enrique%20Pasquel/publicaciones_files/Privaticemos%20las%20vicu%C3%B1as.pdf | archive-date = 24 March 2009}}
{{cite web | title = Las vicuñas repoblaron a los paramos de Chimborazo | publisher = El Comercio, Ecuador | url = https://www.elcomercio.com/actualidad/ecuador/vicunas-repoblaron-paramos-chimborazo.html}}
[https://es.wikisource.org/wiki/Convenio_para_la_Conservaci%C3%B3n_de_la_Vicu%C3%B1a Convention for the Conservation of the Vicuña (La Paz 1969, including the 1976 Ecuadorian accession)] – Spanish Wikisource
[https://es.wikisource.org/wiki/Convenio_para_la_Conservaci%C3%B3n_y_Manejo_de_la_Vicu%C3%B1a Convention for the Conservation and Management of the Vicuña (Lima 1979)] – Spanish Wikisource
[http://www.conveniovicuna.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/05/Convenio-de-la-Vicu%C3%B1a.pdf Convention for the Conservation and Management of the Vicuña (Lima 1979)] – Original scan at [http://www.conveniovicuna.org/ Conveniovicuna.org]

{{Fibers}}{{Artiodactyla}}{{Portal bar|Animals|Mammals|Biology|Argentina|Peru|Bolivia|Chile|South America|Andes}}

Category:Camelids

Category:Mammals of the Andes

Category:Mammals of Argentina

Category:Mammals of Bolivia

Category:Mammals of Chile

Category:Mammals of Peru

Category:Wool animals

Category:Mammals described in 1782

Category:Taxa named by Juan Ignacio Molina

Category:Taxobox binomials not recognized by IUCN

Category:National symbols of Peru