vicuña blue postcard

Vicuña, San Pedro de Atacama, Chile. The vicuña (Vicugna vicugna) or vicugna is one of two wild South American camelids which live in the high alpine areas of the Andes, the other being the guanaco. It is a relative of the llama, and is now believed to be the wild ancestor of domesticated alpacas, which are raised for their coats. Vicuñas produce small amounts of extremely fine wool, which is very expensive because the animal can only be shorn every three years, and has to be caught from the wild. The vicuña is the national animal of Peru; its emblem is used on the Peruvian coat of arms.