vicuña

(also ‘vicugna’; for the different pronunciations of this word, please click here)

a kind of animal – mammal – four-legged – grass-eating – diurnal (= active during day) – belongs to the camel family – slender-looking body with long, thick tawny brown fleece (wool) on the back, longer white hair on the throat and chest, like a ‘mane’, cone-shaped head with long, straight triangular ears, round, clear forward-facing eyes, moderate length muzzle (= mouth and nose part), long, slender neck and legs, 9 inch-long tail; size: 3 feet high at the shoulder, 5 feet in length, and 35-60 Kg. in weight; feeds on (eats) grasses; lives for about 20 years; 2 sub-species found in the central Andes mountain range of South America

a small herd of vicuna

Special Features:

The vicuna is the national animal of Peru, South America.

(a vicuna fur coat)

The vicuna is the smallest and most graceful of the six species of the camel family. The other species are: dromedary, bactrian (in Africa), and alpaca, guanaco and llama (in South America).

Vicunas have been known as the ‘bearers of the golden fleece.’  In Inca civilisation only the royal family were allowed to wear the clothes made from vicuna yarn!

Vicunas have the softest and silkiest fleece which is very expensive because each adult vicuna can be shorn (shaved) only once in every 3 years!

The clothes made from vicuna’s wool are so expensive that a scarf may cost $ 1500 and a coat, $ 20,000!!