La Vicuna It is an animal that many human beings do not know, although this is such a characteristic animal and has a fiber that is very important for man, it is for this reason that through this post we want to talk to you a little about the vicuna, its characteristics, habitat, food and more.
What is Vicuna?
It is surprising how many animals exist on our planet, the importance that each and every one has for human beings, the same ones that are responsible for the extinction of many of these animals due to various reasons, and even so, a large part of these animals They are completely unknown to human beings, since many do not even imagine that they exist, despite their importance and benefits that they can provide.
La vicuna It is also known by its scientific name as Vicugna Vicugna, it corresponds to the class of camelids and is one of the Native animals of Peru most characteristic, although it is also found in northeastern Argentina, western Bolivia, Chile and Ecuador, it is a mammalian animal and the smallest of its kind. It has two subspecies, one is the northern or vicuna Peruvian, while the other is known as southern or southern.
It is a family of the llama, the alpaca and the guanaco, its physical appearance is similar to the latter, with the difference that the vicuna it is smaller. When it is in the stage of adulthood it can reach a height between 75 and 90 centimeters, while the length that goes from the head to the tail can be 180 centimeters, it has a white color on its chest, while the back and sides are brown in color
Characteristics of the Vicuna
La vicuna in an animal with a very slender and refined build, its head is really very small with very large eyes, it has very thick eyelashes and narrow, pointed and somewhat elongated ears, as well as its neck and legs that are also long, although these they do not have hooves, instead they have a kind of soft pads. It can weigh between 35 and 65 kilograms, its tail is short, it measures between 15 and 25 centimeters long.
Its body has a beautiful, very soft fur of a reddish-brown hue on the upper part, beige on the sides, white on the neck and chest areas, and the fur in this area is longer than that of the rest of its body. , where it can measure up to 30 centimeters long, these animals have two incisor teeth similar to those of mice and with a layer of enamel.
In addition, it can be noted that the fiber of its wool is one of the most refined in the world, it measures about 15 microns in diameter. The fur of the vicuna It is heavy, it is made up of fine fibers that develop being all very close together, in order to protect the animal from the cold, as well as from the rain and the wind.
Distribution and Habitat of the Vicuña
La vicuna It is distributed in several regions of America apart from its place of origin, which is Peru, Chile, Argentina and Bolivia. It was also exported to Ecuador, however, the subspecies cover a specific area, for example; the Vicugna Vicugna Mensalis is found in northern Bolivia, Chile, and Peru, while the Vicugna Vicugna Vicugna inhabits Bolivia, Chile, and Argentina. It should be noted that this animal lives in the wild and is not domesticated.
La vicuna lives in the Andean region, it is also part of the fauna and Flora of the Puna, in territories with approximately 3.200 to 4.800 meters of altitude, can tolerate heights that other animals cannot, since it has a large heart and hemoglobin blood cells with a greater capacity to perceive oxygen.
In this type of habitat there is a flora of about 6 different types of vegetation, which are swampy tundra, grasslands, halophytes, grass steppes, shrub steppes and support cacti. It shows a preference for swampy areas or with wetlands, it requires drinking water throughout the day, for this reason it must live in places near streams, springs, rivers, among others.
Vicuña feeding
This is a herbivorous animal that eats perennial herbs, which it plucks with its trunk and chews with its incisor teeth, which are the same as the incisors of rodents and grow throughout their lives, they also tend to lick the calcareous rocks that are rich in salts. , and even drink salt water. These animals usually spend much of their time eating in large territories and moving from one place to another to search for food, usually chewing while resting or lying down.
Behavior of the Vicuna
The behavior of vicuna It is very similar to that of the guanaco, that is, it is a very passive and introverted animal, it prefers to flee before entering dangerous situations, they usually live in groups of males without partners and very lonely, these groups are led by the leader of the herd, as in groups where there are families, they are also dominated by a male, who leads between 5 and 15 females, in addition to his children.
They are communities where their members are always together and do not separate, nor do they accept that other animals belong to their family. The vicuna It has diurnal habits, so they spend their night and mornings on dry slopes, during the day they travel to swamps or grasslands to socialize and look for food, then they go to the place where they sleep, so that this animal chooses two places in his daily routine, the area where he eats and another to sleep.
Their habit of sleeping on slopes or slopes, they do it in order to flee from the predators that lie in wait for them, in case of perceiving any danger the leader or dominant male sends a signal with a vocal sound, which warns all the others and in this way they flee as far as they can from said danger.
Reproduction
La vicuna The female is sexually active when they reach 14 months of age, however, they do not have young until they are 2 or 3 years old. On the other hand, males are sexually active when they are 2 years old, and they reproduce at 3 or 4 years of age.
In the Vicugna Vicugna species, the male leader of the herd mates with all the females that are mature and of reproductive age, the mating cycle of these animals is between the months of March and April, however, the months of reproduction may vary depending on the location of the Vicuna.
After the female's gestation, which lasts 11 months, is that they have their young, which are usually standing after 15 minutes of being born. The mother is in charge of taking care of her offspring for approximately 10 months for those who are born as males, the females last longer under the care of the parent, but then there comes a time when they are totally free and independent.
Symbolism of the Vicuna
La vicuna It is found on the national coat of arms of Peru, where it can be seen along with two other figures. Then it would be this typical animal of the Peruvian Andes that has the most valuable wool on the planet and that is a symbol of animal wealth, the cinchona tree figuring plant wealth and the Cornucopia symbolizing the enormous mineral wealth of the country.
It is a mammal that could never be domesticated, the human being in these regions was able to domesticate the potato, the alpaca and the wild geography of the Andes, but never could with this species, so keeping these animals in captivity generates a lot of stress , which at the same time submerges them in a tension that prevents their reproduction, so that they do not tolerate being captive and these animals must be free, but for their valued and expensive fiber, they are captured to obtain them.
Threats
La vicuna is on the Red List of the International Union for Conservation of Nature, under the name of "Least Concern", which means that this animal is not currently in danger of extinction, quite the contrary, since its population total has increased significantly, this thanks to the efforts made in order to protect them from poachers who hunted them for their skin.
It should be noted that a few years ago, this was one of the most endangered species in South America where there were only a few thousand specimens, which is why in 1979 Argentina, Peru, Chile and Bolivia signed the Agreement for the Protection and Management of the Vicuna. Currently, many of these specimens live in protected areas.
To this day, the species of vicunas around 120.000 prototypes, are protected by the laws that penalize the hunting of animals, however, there is an exception that authorizes the sale of the fiber, as long as it is from accredited animals sheared while alive. The fiber thus obtained bears the seal of Vicuna Andes, which is the State brand and certifies its proper use.
Protection of the Vicunas
The inhabitants of the puna assure that the vicunas They have their own owner, who are the cattle of Pachamama, Mother Earth, in addition to having their own shepherd, who is Llastay, a benign mythological being in whom their inhabitants believe. The fiber of this animal took value since prehistoric times and still in our times, obtaining the wool is carried out through the ancestral method called chaccu or chaku.
The hunt for the vicunas it increased after the arrival of firearms by the conquerors. In ancient times its population was up to three million heads, after the hunt for them began, the species declined abruptly, this hunt increased every day during the Battle of Independence, until then the Liberator Simón Bolívar passed the first law against hunting and in favor of the conservation of animals in the Americas.
In the same way, from the time of Independence until approximately the year 1950, the hunting of vicunas without any type of limits or control, it was then that the species came to be in real danger of extinction, since there were only about 10.000 prototypes left among the four countries where they live. After this, the Peruvian region began to work in favor of the conservation and protection of these animals, which was when they made provincial, national and international laws.
Currently there are worldwide institutions dedicated to environmental conservation, such as UNESCO and UNEP, in addition to private organizations, where the most important at the international level is the IUCN.
Conservation and Management
The Convention for the Conservation and Management of Vicuna It is an international agreement where the signatory governments of Argentina, Bolivia, Chile, Ecuador and Peru celebrated an agreement on August 16, 1969, with the purpose of considering the conservation of this species, which constitutes an alternative of economic production in benefit of the Andean population.
Likewise, they recognize that there is a need to assume a commitment for its protection and gradual use under state control, applying the techniques for the management of wild fauna determined by the competent official organisms of each government.
Types of Vicuña Management
La vicuna In the same way as the guanaco, it is the only species of wild animal that can be "harvested", that is, through shearing, the wool can be extracted without the need to exterminate the animal.
At the same time there are its characteristics of not being domesticable, of resistance to extreme weather conditions and poor pastures, in addition to its quality as a wild animal, that is to say that these represent a maintenance expense in terms of health and food, which places it in the place of an excellent resource for the populations of that region.
In the nations where these species are distributed and are of great importance for the culture in general, the respective governments have carried out projects to recover the species. These plans have the main objective of obtaining wool from the shearing of live specimens, without having to harm them, however, poaching and illegal trade in them continues to be a major problem to be faced. Between the type of use that is given to the Vicuna are the following:
- Wild: This is the capture of vicunas who live in freedom, using a method called Chaco of ancestral origin, which was used by the Incas to capture them, and which tries to get several people to hold onto ropes with colored ribbons, setting up a kind of barrier that they walk through the puna , where they walk or run in front of these barriers that lead to a kind of "capture sleeve".
These perform the function of a capture net, where the space narrows with the animals inside, until the time comes when they are all locked up and have no way of escape.
- Captivity: In this type of use it is necessary to differentiate which of the two classes of captivity there is, for example: if it is in large pens, such as the large Peruvian "fences" or in small pens in Argentina. Although some people call large fences "semi-captivity", in this way they can avoid contradictions by saying captivity to all types of management that do not allow the animals to be in full freedom.
Making fences and pens has a high cost, placing these facilities is not economical since the fences must be at least 2 meters high, and this type of material is quite expensive, in addition to paying the labor of whoever install them.
When Vicunas they are in a state of captivity restricted in their movements and freedoms, there are many fights between the family males and the herds of the singles, because these animals become very aggressive, so that the groups of singles decide to move away many kilometers , which is why in many of these systems singles must be separated from families with children or castrated.
It should be noted that the areas where the pens are located do not always have the necessary conditions that these animals require, since they must be provided with both food and water, and many times it is not done continuously with the intention of avoiding this type of expense. These systems reduce the effort that must be made to capture them with the traditional Chaco capture technique, but interfere with the biology of this species of Vicuna.
