The vicuna and the finest wool in the world
"The
earth is not ours but we belong to it because we are his children. Does the
land owner? Pachamama is our house, our home and lived here humans, animals and
plants. " A. René Machaca
The vicuna (Vicugna vicugna) -of Quechua wik'uña- is a
artiodactyl mammal, family of camels and camelids group, living in the Andean
highlands, in northern Argentina, western Bolivia, the northeastern Chile,
Ecuador, and in the Andes of Peru, which has the main population of the species.
Characteristics
The vicunas are the small camelids, weighing 40 to 50
kg and has a length of 80 cm. They are wild. Its color is beige or vicuña
(reddish light brown) on the back and white on the belly and legs, with
variations depending on the habitat. Northern populations are darker and have a
lock on the front of long white hairs (pectoral tuft). Vicuna have long, thin
legs, finished in pads, suitable for walking on various types of soil, even
rocky.
The wool fiber is among the finest in the world, measuring
15 microns in diameter. The coat is dense, consisting of thin fibers that grow
together, to protect the animal from both the cold and the rain and wind. If
the fibers were thicker and grow further apart, they would spend the cold air
and rainwater.
Habitat
It is located in the highlands, more than 3200 m; They
are living in highland cold, dry weather. They are herbivores and feed on the
plants of the high Andean steppes. The residents of the Puna say vicunas have
owners, they are cattle of Pachamama, Mother Earth, and have their own pastor,
Coquena.
The fiber (wool) of the vicuna was valued since
pre-Inca times. Hunting was limited by their primitive methods, but intensified
after the introduction of firearms. The population reached 3 million heads but
after centuries of hunting fell dramatically. Indiscriminate hunting
intensified after Independence and Simon Bolivar issued one of the first
conservation laws of America. From independence until 1950 hunting vicunas had
no limits or control until the species was in real danger of extinction, and
only 10,000 were in the Andes.
According Baldo (2014, p. 23) in 1960 there were fears
that the vicunas were extinguished, so in the provinces, countries and also
among the Andean countries began vigorous efforts to save them, with strict
conservation measures. In 1969 in La Paz (Bolivia), the first International
Convention for the Conservation of Vicuña it was signed. Hunting was banned,
many protected areas were created and international trade is strictly regulated
fiber, with maximum protection of all surviving populations. Ten years later,
the Convention changed its name to "International Convention for the
Conservation and Management of the Vicuña" and included the ability to
sustainably use the species.
Therefore, in Peru he began working seriously for
recovery and conservation; with appropriate legislation. A successful move was
the creation of reserves for raising the vicuna; Pampa Galeras (Ayacucho) and
Aguada Blanca (Arequipa).
Worldwide, there are institutions dedicated to
environmental conservation, such as Unesco (United Nations Educational,
Scientific and Cultural Organization) and UNEP (United Nations Environment
Programme).
Baldo (2014.p. 22) indicates that in addition to
measures of international, national and regional governments, was very
important the people support for the Andean vicuna conservation, protecting
people hunters, so that communities favored by the presence of this valuable
species in their territories. Vicuna then begin to increase in number and
recolonize former home areas and in many of these areas farmers and herdsmen
protect them.
The recovery of the vicuña and the value of its fiber,
allow people get real benefits from the use of wool by capturing and shearing.
Some communities already receiving benefits, others also want to win; vicunas
in some communities are recovering and in others just appear so it takes more
effort and care to increase their populations.
Currently, the Vicuña Convention is not strict
conservation but also allows use. In Article 1 states that the signatory
governments agree that the conservation of the vicuna is "an alternative
economic production for the benefit of the Andean population and commit
themselves to its gradual use under strict state control."
There are still risks such as poaching, the act of
misleading the vicunas as pets, the lack of recognition of local communities
and their rights regarding the vicunas, lack of environmental protection.
There are few areas of strict protection of vicunas
where they can reproduce undisturbed, essential to have an animal reservoir
condition. Despite the efforts, many existing protected areas are "paper
parks" because they lack the proper amount of rangers, budget and
infrastructure for proper control and operation thereof.
Vicunas can be stored in two ways: Free or wild and in
captivity.
In the first case, the vicunas living in the wild
using a technique called Chaco of ancestral origin (from the Incas), where the
vicunas end up in a corral of capture and shearing are captured. In captivity,
the habitat is smaller but you can better control the action of predators or
poachers.
The vicuna is the national animal of Peru, is the coat
of arms as a symbol of the natural wealth.
References
Baldo Jorge, Arzamendia Yanina, Bila Viviana (2014) La vicuña, Manual
para su conservación u uso sustentable
CONICET, Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones científicas y técnicas, Buenos
Aires, Argentina
Hoces, Domingo (2008) CONSERVACION Y USO ACTUAL DE LA VICUÑA (Vicugna
vicugna mensalis) EN EL PERU
La vicugna vicugna
Vicuña
