Vicuna  (Vicugna vicugna)

During the period of the Incas, vicuna were caught to be sheared and were then released. Subsequently, demand for their valuable wool has been high and excessive hunting caused a massive decrease in populations, with numbers reaching an all time low in the 1960s (15). Since then, a number of conservation initiatives have been implemented and numbers are recovering. However, there are still a number of threats (10).

Local people in the region, which consider vicuna as competitors of domestic livestock, do not tolerate their presence and may be a highly significant factor influencing vicuna distribution (15) (16). Poaching still takes place, and vicuna fibre and products are smuggled in large quantities to Europe or Asia (9). Habitat loss, either through over-grazing by domestic livestock or as a result of human activities, such as mining and pollution of water sources, poses a further threat and it is thought that climate change may have a damaging effect on the delicate ecosystem the vicuna inhabits (17). A new potential threat, both in the Andes and worldwide, is the breeding of pacovicuña (an alpaca and vicuna hybrid) for commercial purposes (9) (10).

Standing at two million individuals during the time of the Incas, vicuna were a common species (16). Since the Spanish conquest, massive numbers of vicuna are thought to have been slaughtered. By 1960, the population had been reduced to around 10,000, but international and national conservation efforts has resulted in an increase in the population to nearly 200,000 animals in less than 30 years (10) (11) (16). In 1969, the five countries with vicuna signed an agreement called the Convention of Vicuña (Convenio para la Conservación de la Vicuña) where they committed themselves to create rules and regulations in order to stop vicuna hunting activities. A network of protected areas for vicuna was created across the different countries and each government developed an Action Plan for their conservation. (16). In 1979, Ecuador, Argentina, Chile, Peru and Bolivia signed a new Convention for the Conservation and Management of the Vicuña, and Andean communities, who had been paying the cost for vicuna conservation, were named as the main beneficiaries of vicuna use (16). . Different management occurs in different countries, for example, Bolivia supports community-based management, capturing, shearing and releasing wild vicuna with the participation of local communities, whereas Argentina promotes the management of captive vicuna; however, this seems to have a negative effect on vicuna in the wild (18). Management of vicuna will only be successful if based on sound scientific information and proper enforcement (9) (10).