Camelid Country

The Vicuña
(Vicugna Vicugna)

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Description

The vicuña, a small animal with fine cinnamon fleece and a delicate white bib, is the smallest of the six camelid species in the world today, and one of two wild varieties native to South America.

It is distinguished from the guanaco, the other wild species, by a more slender build, a shorter head, and the absence of bare callosities on the hind legs.

Their remarkably long, fine, soft and lusterous wool is highly valued for weaving. The term vicuña is also used to refer to cloth made from vicuña fleece and to immitations thereof.

The Vicuñ is protected by the Convention on International Trade in Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES), indicating the species may become endangered if trade in specimens of the animal are not controlled.

Originally listed in Appendix 1 of the treaty on July 1, 1975, a rise in the number of animals allowed transfer of some populations to Appendix II in 1987. Some more populations were transferred to Appendix II in 1995. Finally, all remaining populations were placed in Appendix II on September 18, 1997.

The 1997 IUCN Red List classifies the Vicuñ as low risk, but conservation dependant. This means that, in the opinion of IUCN, if conservation programs for the species were terminated, the vicuña could be reclassified as threatened within five years.

Argentina, Bolivia, Chile, Ecuador, and Peru are party to the Convention for the Conservation and Management of the Vicuña, signed in 1979 in Lima, Peru. The Convention brings the vicuña under strict state control, prohibits hunting and illegal trade, and provides for the establishment of parks, reserves, and other protected areas.

Under the terms of the treaty, the vicuña was introduced into Ecuador from Chile and Peru in 1988.