THE VICUÑA

The Vicuña is the smallest of the six species of camel and is thought to be the wild ancestor of the alpaca. It lives on the high, grassland plateaus of the Andes mountains, which range from southern Peru to northern Chile.

Although they look fragile, the Vicuña is specially adapted to its high-altitude habitat. It has an incredibly thick, soft coat that traps layers of warm air close to its body and protects it from freezing at night.

The Vicuña produces one of the finest fibres of any animal in the world today, so valuable was the fleece that the breed was almost hunted to extinction.

Today the Vicuña is a rare but protected species and only a very limited supply of yarn is produced, using modern farming methods.

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