7/11/2003: Vicunas

These are vicunas, in a corral in Peru.

Turns out they are raised by Peruvians for their wool. For years they were endangered, as vicuna wool became trendy for a while. It's used to create the most expensive fabric in the world: super light, super warm, and super expensive. The wool is finer than cashmere. Poachers relentlessly bagged the animals for ages, then the Peruvian government stepped in and said no more of this and set up a program to save them. For a while the fabric was banned outright; now the animals are thriving as livestock and the fabric is back on the market.

Why do they produce the finest wool? Because they adapted to the high elevations of the Andes, so they needed a really warm coat.

But what do they look like? All you can see are their heads, not their bodies. Their heads do look unlike any animal I've seen before, but I wish we could at least see one in full.

Image stolen from http://orbita.starmedia.com/~animali...lia/vicuna.htm

I actually had this one before and forgot to post it!

I would imagine that farming them instead of poaching means shearing yearly instead of shooting ad shearing once.

They're sort of like skinny llamas.

I want one!

See my vest, see my vest!
made of real gorilla chest!

Their heads do look unlike any animal I've seen before [...]

They look like camels' heads to me, which isn't surprising, because vicunas, alpacas, llamas, and camels are all related.

No, wait, llamas are different, they're more related to aimbot users and wall hackers. Oh, I'm so confused.

I wonder if their fur is anything like alpaca. I have an alpaca wool rug. It is nothing short of wonderful. Thick, soft, warm. Mmm...