The Vicuna: the precious treasure of the Andes

If you think that we are talking about Llama, then think again. Alpaca? No, there is an animal with finer wool still. It is the vicuna. Never heard of it? You re not alone. The vicuna is a rare wild animal which sports hair less than half the diameter of the finest sheep s wool. It s wool is not just for show, however. Because it lives at an elevation of between 12,000 and 18,000 feet on the slopes of the Andes Mountains it needs that insulating coat. Up there, near the snow line the days are beautifully sunny but at night the temperatures plummet to many degrees below zero. Other areas of the Andes - especially on the western side - are dry deserts. With such inhospitable conditions it is a wonder that the vicuna survives at all. They live at higher altitudes than the alpacas!

The vicuna habitat
The vicuna, however, is wonderfully designed for its habitat. The animal has blood that is so loaded with red cells that even at the high altitudes where it lives, the vicuna can run at thirty miles per hour (50 kilometers per hour). The vicuna also has an uncanny ability to survive without water. It has even been referred to as a cameloid because of it s likeness to a camel in it s ability to survive in arid conditions.

The vicuna reproduction
The vicuna gives birth in March and April. This is at the end of the rainy season - a time when food is plentiful. Births usually occur in the morning. This allows the baby time to dry out before the cold night comes. The mother goes off on its own and into labor for about half an hour. It will then give birth to a baby weighing about 14 pounds ( 6 kilograms). The mother does nothing to help the baby, not even licking it. The baby is at this stage vulnerable to the attack of the vicuna s most dangerous predator - the Andean Condor. Rain is the animal s worst enemy at the beginning stages of life. The coldness and the damp will slow the newborn down and make it an easy target for the condor.

If it can survive the first thirty minutes of life, the vicuna will be on it s feet and soon able to run faster than a full grown man. Poachers, however, have nearly exterminated the vicuna. They have even resorted to mowing the animals down with machine guns. Annually up to 50,000 pounds of vicuna wool are exported as a result of illegal activities. Some countries have now banned the importation of vicuna wool and skin in an effort to save the animal.

The vicuna fiber
One thing that makes the wool of the vicuna so popular is it s warmth. All wool is warm because of tiny scales that are on the hollow air filled fibers that cause them to interlock and trap insulating air. Wool has the ability to absorb moisture to the extent of thirty percent of it s weight without feeling damp. As mentioned earlier, vicuna wool is finer than any other wool. That means that the wool is softer, lighter and warmer than any other wool on this earth. The fibers of vicuna wool are so sensitive to chemical treatment that the wool is normally used in it s natural golden color.

Vicuna fiber production
The vicuna will only produce about one pound of wool in a year. Of this fiber only half amount is the finest that is usefull for producing the worldwide finest garments. This is opposed to the alpaca which can give off fifteen pounds in a similar time period. This, of course, adds to the rarity of the wool. Still, it is possible to commercially produce wool from domesticated vicunas. This has, however, proved a most difficult task. The vicuna does not take readily to domestication. It will jump fences and attempt to return to the wild. But despite of this facts, good work on this sense have been done in Argentina, Chile and now Peru towards the domestication of this precious wild animal. Domestication can be seen from 2 points of view: is the glass half full? or it is half empty? We think that all knowledge about the vicuna must be pursued, so we favor domestication and management without damagin the savage populations and as an extra insurance for the safety of the breed. All this has led to experiments at cross breeding the vicuna with the far more controllable alpaca. The result is call a "PacoVicuña".

Vicuna protection and allowed commerce
The wool of the vicuna, then, appears set to become an increasingly rare adornment. And 90% of the countries accept and put measures to stop the decimation of this amazing animal. All this control happens under what is known as the CITES convention. Everytime you see a vicuna or pacovicuna garment ask if this product has certificate of the country of origin. The only ones authorized to issue those certifications are Peru, Bolivia, Chile, Argentina and Ecuador. This rules are follow by the goverment, customs authorities, wild life protection authorities of the United States, Canada, Europe, Japan, Australia, and almost all other country that you can think about.