# Vicuña (*Vicugna vicugna*)

> The vicuña (Vicugna vicugna) is a wild Andean camelid prized for ultrafine wool, living on high puna grasslands of Peru, Bolivia, Argentina, and Chile. Adults weigh about 50 kg, graze tough high-altitude plants, and recovered from near-extinction to Least Concern under community shearing programmes that replaced poaching.

- **Category:** Mammal
- **Conservation status (IUCN):** Least Concern
- **Range:** High Andes of Peru, Bolivia, Argentina, and Chile.
- **Canonical page:** https://globalanimalguide.org/animals/vicuna/
- **Last reviewed:** 2026-07-16

## Scientific classification

- **Kingdom:** Animalia
- **Phylum:** Chordata
- **Class:** Mammalia
- **Order:** Artiodactyla
- **Family:** Camelidae
- **Genus:** Vicugna

## Facts at a glance

| Attribute | Value |
| --- | --- |
| Scientific name | Vicugna vicugna |
| Diet | Herbivore |
| Habitat | High-altitude puna grasslands |
| Lifespan | Around 15 years in the wild (varies by population and captivity). |
| Weight | About 50 kg typical adult mass (sex and region vary). |
| Top speed | Up to roughly 50 km/h when moving at speed. |
| Conservation status | Least Concern (IUCN) |

## Finest natural fibre

Vicuña wool fibres are among the finest of any animal — historically reserved for Inca royalty. Animals are wild, not fully domesticated like alpacas; roundups (chaccus) allow live shearing.

## High-Andes grazer

Diet is grasses and forbs of the puna above roughly 3,500 m. They need daily access to drinking water and form family groups with territorial males.

## Peru to Chile puna

High-altitude grasslands of Peru, Bolivia, Argentina, and Chile along the Andes. Across its range it is tied to high-altitude puna grasslands, and field accounts emphasise this species’ distinctive ecology rather than generic habitat labels.

## From poaching to sustainable shear

Twentieth-century poaching for wool nearly wiped them out. CITES controls and community-managed live shearing rebuilt herds to Least Concern — a rare wildlife-trade success when well governed.

## Frequently asked questions

### Is vicuña wool softer than cashmere?

Vicuña fibre is exceptionally fine and often considered finer than cashmere; legal cloth is expensive because animals are wild-shorn infrequently.

### Are vicuñas domesticated?

No — they remain wild, unlike alpacas and llamas, though managed roundups occur.

### Why were vicuñas nearly extinct?

They were killed for their fleece; live-shearing programmes removed the incentive to poach.

### What is a baby vicuña called?

A young vicuña is called a cria — that is the usual English name for a young vicuña.

### Where do vicuñas live?

High Andes of Peru, Bolivia, Argentina, and Chile. Native range summary: High Andes of Peru, Bolivia, Argentina, and Chile.

---
Source: Global Animal Guide (https://globalanimalguide.org/animals/vicuna/). Licensed CC BY-NC 4.0 — free for non-commercial reuse with attribution.