Long-tailed chinchilla  (Chinchilla lanigera)

These small mammals have been hunted for their luxurious fur since the 1900s, when around 500,000 chinchilla skins were exported annually from Chile (2). At that time chinchilla populations were flourishing, but their pelts were the most valuable in the world, reaching up to $100,000 for one alone, and soon they faced extinction in the wild (5). There are currently an estimated 10,000 individuals left in the Chilean mountains (6) (7). More recently populations have also suffered due to habitat destruction by the burning and harvesting of the algarobilla shrub at lower altitudes (7).

The IUCN lists the chinchilla as a vulnerable species, requiring conservation measures to be taken (1), and CITES lists it on Appendix I, which prohibits international trade of the species (3). Chinchilla are protected by law in their natural habitat, but it is extremely hard to monitor hunting in the remote mountain ranges of the Andes, and illegal hunting does continue in some areas (6) (7). For the same reason, it is also difficult to monitor the population. Recent estimates suggest this species is becoming more isolated following habitat loss, and therefore less likely to be able to recover without human intervention. Reintroductions have not worked in the past, though breeding is still successful in captivity, and hundreds of chinchilla are bred commercially for the pet trade (2). It is hoped that conservation measures will be applied successfully to protect this species and bring it back from the brink of extinction in the wild (5).