The Vicuña is the smallest member of the household of camelids and is thought to be the alpaca’s wild ancestor. It looks endearing, with its massive, forward-going through eyes and small, wedge-shaped head with sharply triangular ears. The colour of the head varies from reddish-brown to yellow, and its neck is pale orange. Its chest is covered with a silky white mane, but the fur of the remainder of its body is soft and of the same length. It has a pale brown back and its underside and the interior parts of its flanks are dirty white.
The vicuña inhabits the Andes in southern Peru, north-western Argentina, western Bolivia, and northern Chile. It lives in mountainous areas above 3,200 meters, grazing on the quick, robust vegetation of those semi-arid rolling grasslands, marshes and plains known as “antiplano” or “puna”. It inhabits areas where water is available for it to drink on a each day basis. The local weather of its habitat is dry, zodiac01 and is scorching in the course of the day and cold at night.
Habits and Life-style
Vicuñas are shy and alert animals that run away very rapidly. When they sense hazard, they make a clear whistling noise. The dominant male warns the herd with its alarm call, and then positions himself between the menace and his herd. A single dominant male is the leader of a group of juveniles and females. He decides the range of the herd’s territory and its membership, and drives different male vicuñas away from his group. Household groups are closed, excluding non-member males and generally even stopping young female animals from joining. A family group normally numbers 6-10 individuals, based on meals availability in its territory. Vicuñas have a feeding territory as well as a separate territory for sleeping. They’re diurnal animals, and at evening go as much as their sleeping territory at higher altitudes. Adults that don’t lead a herd either change into solitary, or they be a part of a large herd of 30 to one hundred fifty individuals.
Vicuñas are polygynous, the dominant male mating with all mature females from his herd. The mating season begins in March or April. The gestation period is 330 to 350 days, and a single fawn is born. A fawn can stand just quarter-hour after being born. It stays close beside its mom for eight months or more, persevering with to suckle until the age of 10 months and changing into unbiased at around 12 to 18 months of age. Younger males be part of bachelor groups and younger females be a part of a sorority. Females are sexually mature at 2 years and a few are nonetheless reproducing at 19 years.
Inhabitants threats
Poaching takes place, the vicuña’s coat and products being smuggled in giant amounts to Asia and Europe. Habitat loss on account of over-grazing from domestic livestock or human activities, such pollution of water sources and mining, is an extra threat. Local weather change may damage the delicate ecosystem the place the vicuña lives. A latest potential threat, within the Andes as well as worldwide, is the breeding of a vicuña and alpaca hybrid (a pacovicuña) for commercial purposes.
Inhabitants number
In response to the IUCN Red List, the total inhabitants dimension of the vicuña is 347,273 people, including estimates for particular regions: Argentina: 127,072 or 72,678 individuals; Bolivia: sixty two,869 individuals; Chile: sixteen,942 individuals; Europeanador: 2,683 individuals; Peru: 188,327 individuals. Vicuñas’ numbers are increasing in the present day and they are categorized as least concern (LC) on the list of threatened species.