Vicuñas – Just Wild Llamas?

 (Léase en español / Read in Spanish)

Last October my husband and I went on a trip to the Altiplano of Bolivia. It was an incredible journey and we had opportunities to see many hundreds of llamas. But we also observed something more unique: the vicuña in its natural habitat. Can you see them?

What exactly are vicuñas and how are they different from llamas?

Are vicuñas (pronounced vee-KOON-yuh) just wild llamas? No, they are very different. It is true that vicuñas are ancestors of the llama. But saying that vicuñas are ‘just wild llamas’ is like saying that zebras are ‘just wild horses.’

As mentioned in a previous blog post, vicuñas (Vicugna vicugna) are wild South American camelids. They live exclusively in South America, and are native to southern Peru, western Bolivia, northwestern Argentina and northern Chile.





They have adapted quite well to living in the Altiplano where daytime temperatures can be warm but nighttime temperatures can get below freezing.

The vicuñas’ thick but soft coat traps layers of warm air close to their body so they can tolerate the freezing temperatures.


Vicuñas are much smaller than llamas. In fact they are the smallest members of the Camelidae family, of which camels are also a part. From their shoulder to the ground they average 80 cm (31 inches), whereas llamas average 120 cm (47 inches).

Here’s another thing: llamas come in a variety of colors, but vicuñas are always tawny brown on the back with white hair on their underside including the throat and chest, where it grows noticeably longer.

Vicuñas are also very shy which has made attempts at domestication nearly impossible. They have been known to starve themselves to death in captivity.

Due to their extraordinary hearing they are easily aroused by intruders. For this reason, we only saw a handful of these beautiful creatures on our trip and they always seemed annoyed to see us and suspicious of our presence.

Their diet consists mainly of grasses and plants which grow in clumps low to the ground. Our guide pointed out one of the plants, but it was difficult to distinguish from the rocks and sand. See photo at right.

Vicuñas will frequently lick rocks that are rich in salt and other minerals, and may also drink salt water. Do you see the three vicuñas in this photo? (Click on it to enlarge it.) They are between the banks of Laguna Verde and another mineral-rich lake on the slopes of the volcano Mount Licancabur.



Vicuñas live in small family-based groups made up of one male and 5 to 15 females with their young. The young fawns become independent when the get to be about 12 to 18 months old and leave their family group. Young males will form bachelor groups while the young females search for another family group to join.

Vicuña wool is very popular for its warmth. It is also the finest wool in the world and perhaps the rarest as well. Vicuñas produce less than half a kilogram (about 1 lb.) of wool per year, and obtaining it is quite a process. During the time of the Incas, vicuña fibers were gathered by means of communal shearing festivals called chaccu. In such occasions thousands of people herded hundreds of thousands of vicuña into previously laid funnel traps that were up to 300 meters (1,000 ft) wide at the opening. Once inside they were sheared and then released. This was only done once every four years. It was against the law for anyone to kill a vicuña or wear its fleece, except for Inca royalty. In our day, Bolivia has enacted laws to protect the vicuña from poachers, and they have reinstated the chaccu festival to allow for the harvest of the wool.

All of this makes vicuña wool a very expensive fiber. The fleece can cost $300 per kilogram (about 2 lbs), and vicuña fabric can sell for up to $3,000 per meter (yard). A simple scarf might cost $1,500 while a coat can sell for over $100,000. Due to its high cost, there are very few people today that afford such garments, similar to ‘only the royalty’ in times past.

So what do you think? Are vicuñas nothing more than ‘wild llamas’? Hardly!











With their small head, large neck and big eyes, and their incredible coat...
They stand alone in their own category of beauty and grace! Don’t you agree?

 (Léase en español / Read in Spanish)