text x_quick_Title2=Class: Mammalia~Order: Artiodactyla~Family: Camelidae~(Vicugna vicugna)
text x_quick=Where In the World~` Vicunas are found in South America in the Andes mountains of southern Peru, western Bolivia, northwestern Argentina, and northern Chile.~` At one time, they may have been found as far north as Ecuador.~` During the time of the Incas, there may have been between a million and a million and a half vicunas.~` Their population today is unknown, however, their numbers are certainly declining.~ ~Take a Look!~` A vicuna is between four and six feet long, and its tail is about six inches long.~` An adult vicuna stands a bit under four feet tall at the shoulder.~` They weigh between 75 and 145 pounds.~` Vicunas have woolly coats said to produce the finest, softest wool in the world.~` The Vicuna is known for its gentle appearance, doe-like eyes, delicate long legs, and extreme gracefulness.~ ~All in the Family~` The Vicuna is related to the llama, the alpaca, and the guanaco, all originally from the South American continent.~ ~Just the Facts~` Vicunas live in small herds of up to 15 females, one dominant male, and any offspring.~` Some males live in bachelor herds or on their own.~` They are found in the high, rolling meadows of the Andes mountains.~` The Vicuna's vision is very acute, hearing less so, and the sense of smell is poorly developed.~` They rely almost entirely on low mountain grasses.~` A female Vicuna is pregnant for almost 11 months. She has one young - twins are rare.~` The young Vicuna stays with its mother for at least 10 months. As soon as they can survive alone, the dominant male drives juvenile males from the herd. Females remain for a little longer, but they, too, must find a herd of their own.~` A captive Vicuna lived to be over 24 years old.
;Habitat
text x_hab= Vicunas live in the puna, or mountainous rangelands, of the Andes Mountains in South America. They live in a broad band from about 11,500 feet to about 19,000 feet in altitude. Each herd or single animal needs a year-round supply of grass to eat and a permanent source of water. Vicunas like to roll in the dirt to dust their coat and scratch, so nice dusty areas are needed in the habitat and home range. Vicunas have no place to hide on their rolling mountain meadow land, but they have almost unlimited visibility, and excellent vision to go with it - it's very hard for trouble to sneak up on the quick-footed Vicuna. ~\
The animals are found in southern Peru, western Bolivia, northwestern Argentina, and northern Chile. Some say that the Vicuna once lived in Ecuador, perhaps even fairly recently, but so far no one can prove it. The habitat is not one that humans are eager to take over, so the Vicunas have as much room as they ever did.
;Food
text x_eat= There isn't much to eat in the high alpine meadows where the Vicuna live - just miles and miles of rolling ground covered in short, perennial mountain grasses. The Vicunas graze on these grasses year round, occasionally lipping up a flower or tender new shoot if they can find them. Young Vicunas sometimes lie down on the meadow, tuck their legs up underneath, and feed while relaxing, bending to the grasses with their long, swanlike necks.~\
Vicunas, like cows, have several stomachs. First they eat the grasses. The grass, now called cud, sits in the first stomach until the Vicuna is resting. Then the cud comes back up to the Vicuna's mouth and is chewed slowly for a while. Then it passes on to a second stomach. Many animals that are vegetarians take advantage of having several stomachs because it's hard to get all the nutrition out of plants. Having several stomachs is one way to try to get the most out of every mouthful.
;Habits and Characteristics
text x_life= Way up high in the Andes Mountains of southern South America lives a graceful, fuzzy animal called the Vicuna. They can survive in the mountains at elevations almost up to 19,000, which is just a thousand feet less than Mt. McKinley, the highest mountain in North America. That's so high that people who go to visit have to rest for several days, doing nothing, just to get used to how little oxygen there is in the air. But the Vicuna doesn't mind the low oxygen - it can run almost thirty miles an hour for a sustained period at altitudes of almost 15,000 feet. What's the secret? ~\
Vicunas are members of the camel family, and all the members of that group have unusual blood. The blood cells that carry oxygen are shaped differently (they're oval, not round). It turns out that that's a more efficient shape for picking up oxygen molecules. So the Vicuna has an advantage where the air is thin - it needs less than all the other creatures with plain old round blood cells! (Camels have this, too, even though they don't usually need an advantage at great heights.) That lets the Vicuna go bounding off at altitudes that leave humans gasping for breath after a slow walk! ~\
The high mountain rangelands where the vicunas live are called the puna. They're covered with low grasses that the Vicunas eat. The Vicunas live in groups of several females, their young, and a dominant male. They stake out not just one claim, but two. Each herd defends a feeding area and a separate sleeping area. (Plus, they establish a communal "bathroom," where all herd members go to relieve themselves.) The male's jobs are to keep other males away, define the boundaries of the territory, and watches for trouble. When he spots something he doesn't like the looks of (like a cougar, or the mountain foxes that prey on young Vicunas), he gives a shrill alarm whistle and moves between his family and the danger. ~\
A female vicuna is pregnant for ten or eleven months. Her young is able to walk within 15 minutes of birth. Mother and baby sleep side by side for the first eight months, and the young nurses from its mother several times a day until it is ten months. By the time a male is about a year and a half old, he starts looking like competition to his father, who drives him off to find or start his own herd. By that time, the young male is old enough to be on its own. Some stay solitary, although others join together in bachelor herds. Eventually, even the young females will be driven away from the herd, but it's very easy for a female to join with a neighbouring herd.
;Threats
text x_threat= Vicunas grow fine, thick wool coats to keep them warm in their high mountain habitat. Some people believe it is the finest wool in the world - the Incan civilisation thought so. The Incans were the dominant civilisation in South America from about 1200 to the early 1500s. Every three to five years or so, the Incans would round up all the Vicunas they could find. At the time there were probably more than a million of them, so they weren't too hard to find. Rounding them up took a whole lot of people, but they thought it was worth the effort. They would sheer the animals of their fine wool and then let them go to return to the wild and grow new coats.~\
Eventually, the Incan civilisation was destroyed - with it went this humane and sensible method of obtaining the Vicuna's wool. The Europeans brought guns to South America, and soon it became obvious that it was easier to shoot the Vicuna than it was to chase it down and catch it. Naturally, this policy wasn't exactly good news for the Vicunas. Over the centuries their numbers began to decline. The more people who clamoured for soft Vicuna wool sweaters, scarves, and coats, the faster their numbers fell.~\
By the 1950s, there were an estimated 400,000 vicunas left. By 1967, there were only about 10,000. Unlike their gentle cousins the llamas and alpacas, Vicunas won't be domesticated. If they weren't left in the wild, there was no hope for them. So the countries where the Vicunas lived decided to take action. They agreed that they would ban the hunting of Vicunas for at least ten years, and they promised to watch carefully for other ways to help the Vicuna survive.~\
The countries of Argentina, Peru, Chile, and Bolivia have done a wonder
