La vicuña del Perú, la lana más fina del mundo: The vicuña, national symbol of Peru. Wonderful photos

sábado, 2 de febrero de 2019

The vicuña, national symbol of Peru. Wonderful photos

The vicuña, national symbol of Peru. Wonderful photos

The Vicuña, of the Camelidae family, genus Vicugna, species Vicugna vicugna (Molina, 1782) is a South American camelid that lives in the high alpine areas of the Andes, is a relative of the llama, and the wild ancestor of domesticated alpacas. Vicuñas produce small quantities of extremely fine wool, which is very expensive because the animal can only be sheared every three years and must be captured from the wild. The vicuña wool products are very soft and warm. The Incas valued the vicuñas for their wool and only the members of royalty could wear with vicuña wool garments.

The vicuna is the national animal of Peru and is shown on the Peruvian coat of arms. The vicuña is the smallest camelid, with a length of 80 cm and a weight between 40 and 50 kg. They are sedentary animals, with long legs and do not harm the environment, because the plants of their legs have a kind of pad that prevents, in their wake, the vegetation; thus they do not produce erosion.

Protected during the Incas, and now by law, the vicuñas were almost exterminated in the intermediate period. In 1974 there were only 6,000 animals; Today, the population of vicuñas exceeds 200,000 copies in Peru. Conservation organizations have reduced the level of threat classification, but should continue conservation programs to protect them from poaching, habitat loss and other threats.

Below, some photos of beautiful specimens in their natural habitat.