Bolivia: Vicunas

Llamas, guanaco, and vicuna are the three camelid species found in South America. While llamas are fully domesticated, the other two are wild. Vicunas are found in the Andean Anteplano. They were prized for extremely fine wool since the Inca times, and where almost depleted to only a few thousand animals remaining just 20 years ago. The population have now recovered to about 300 thousand. The animals are small and almost appear fragile as they travel across high elevation landscapes of lakes and desert in small groups.