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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. When knitted together, the product of the vicuña's wool is very soft and warm. The Inca valued vicuñas highly for their wool, and it was against the law for anyone but royalty to wear vicuña garments. Both under the rule of the Inca and today, vicuñas have been protected by law, but they were heavily hunted in the intervening period. At the time they were declared endangered in 1974, only about 6,000 animals were left. Today, the vicuña population has recovered to about 350,000,〔 and although conservation organizations have reduced its level of threat classification, they still call for active conservation programs to protect populations from poaching, habitat loss, and other threats. The vicuña is the national animal of Peru; its emblem is used on the Peruvian coat of arms. ==Description== The vicuña is considered more delicate and graceful than the guanaco, and smaller. A key distinguishing element of morphology is the better-developed incisor roots for the guanaco.〔C. Michael Hogan. 2008. (''Guanaco: Lama guanicoe'', GlobalTwitcher.com, ed. N. Strömberg )〕 The vicuña's long, woolly coat is tawny brown on the back, whereas the hair on the throat and chest is white and quite long. The head is slightly shorter than the guanaco's and the ears are slightly longer. The length of head and body ranges from 1.45 to 1.60 m (about 5 ft); shoulder height is from 75 to 85 cm (around 3 ft); its weight is from 35 to 65 kg (under 150 lb). To prevent poaching, a round-up is held every year, and all vicuñas with fur longer than 2.5 cm are shorn. 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Vicuña」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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