Vicuna by junge1
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Description
These vicuna are part of an exhibit at Awanakancha, a living museum of the Peruvian Andes, located at an altitude of about 11,700-ft (~3,500 m) between Cusco and Pisac in the Sacred Valley of the Incas. The museums purpose is to preserve the Peruvian cultural history. As such all four of South America camelids are kept here. 1) Vicuna, generally considered wild, 2) Alpaca, now believed to be domesticated vicuna and kept primarily for their wool and meat, 3) Llama, believed to be domesticated Guanacos and kept primarily as beast of burden and for their meat, and 4) Guanacos, which are also wild.
In Peru guanacos are rare and protected by law. In Argentina especially, guanacos are more numerous and can be found at sea level (Peninsula Valdez) and at lower elevations in Southern Patagonia.
In Peru both vicuna and guanacos range at elevations between 11500-ft (~3,500 m to 16,000-ft (~5,000 m).
All four species have fine wool and many products are made by local Indians.
Generally, the best products are made from 'baby alpaca', referring to the first shearing of an alpaca. Subsequent shearings yield somewhat coarser wool (I couldn't tell the difference). At this living museum the products for sale were guaranteed, whereas in the small towns and villages in the Sacred Valley of the Incas they are not, but they are made by local Indians which may mix alpaca with Llama or sheep wool.
By far the most expensive wool comes from the vicuna. They get sheared every three years but have to be captured first and they only yield about 12 ounces per animal. Much of vicuna wool is exported illegally.
A wool scarf made with vicuna wool may cost $1.500 and a suit can cost as much as $100,000.
This picture was taken on 25 August 2014,
Sig...
Comments (23)
jocko500
wow never seen these animals. cool shot of them
Richardphotos
beautiful animals and foto
bazza
They look beautiful very nice shot of them Sig
Faemike55
Remind me not to get a scarf or suit made this way. first time I've ever seen one (two) thanks for sharing
e-brink
I've not seen these before. Beautiful animals and a great shot. Thanks for the information too. I don't think I'l be buying a Vicuna suit in the near future!
starship64 Online Now!
What cute little critters! Wonderful capture.
jayfar
A very nice shot and excellent info Sig.
Juliette.Gribnau
great shot; interesting animals
Mondwin
Die Alpaca wolle ist wundervoll!!!!!!!Dieses bild ist zauberhaft!!!!!!!!!Bravissimo!!V:DDDGruß Whylma
Cyve
Marvelous capture !!!
ontar1
They are cute, outstanding capture!
AidanaWillowRaven
Wow ... Very interesting. Thanks for sharing :D
Jay-el-Jay
A wonderful photo of these national treasures.
drifterlee
They are really cute!!!!! Great shot!!
farmerC
Exellent shot.
MagikUnicorn
sweeeet
kgb224
Superb capture my friend. God bless.
auntietk
I've never yet found a wool I wanted to wear. It's quite possibly the least comfortable fabric I've ever seen! Even the softest is still itchy. Maybe I'm just allergic or something. Give me some nice 100% cotton any day! :P
flavia49
very nice shot
CavalierLady
Excellent image and fascinating information! My goodness, those are expensive products!
danapommet
A great shot Sig - they do look like shaved Llama's with a different skin pattern!
ia-du-lin
beautiful capture
debbielove
Now actually very rare as they have been hunted to near extinction in the wild.. Farms are where you find them mainly, sad huh? Neat shot though and thanks for showing Sig as we're not likely to see a shot a a wild one on Rendo. Rob