Vicuna

vicuna [vī′kün·yə]

(vertebrate zoology)

Lama vicugna.A rare, wild ruminant found in the Andes mountains; the fiber of the vicuna is strong, resilient, and elastic but is the softest and most delicate of animal fibers.

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Vicun̄a 

(Vicugna vicugna), a mammal of the family Camelidae. It is 70-90 cm tall, about 1.5 m long, and weighs up to 65 kg. The body is covered with short but soft thick fur consisting mainly of downy hairs. In the adult animal it is rust-colored on the back and sides and light gray on the underside. The fleece weighs 800-1,000 g.

Vicun̄as live in small herds in the high-mountain regions of the Andes. The female bears one offspring. At the beginning of the 19th century Vicun̄as were rather common in Ecuador, Peru, Bolivia, and Chile. Their area has been significantly diminished as a result of predatory extermination. They have been best preserved in some remote provinces of Peru.

REFERENCES

Khaveson, la. I. “Dikie i domashnie formy verbliudovykh.” In the anthology Problemy proiskhozhdeniia, evoliutsii i porodoobrazovaniia domashnikh zhivotnykh, vol. 1. Moscow-Leningrad, 1940.
Koford, C. B. “The Vicun̄a and the Puna.” Ecological Monographs, 1957, vol. 27, no. 2. Pages 153-219.