Vicuna

Does anyone know if these animals could live at lower elevations than they're used to in the Andes? Also, how does the wool turn into fiber?

Howdy Phil!

I'll admit, I'm completely out of my depth when it comes to the specifics of your question. But I'll offer what thoughts it brought to mind, and maybe bumping it back up on recent topics will get a nibble from someone more knowledgeable.

Are the Vicuna you're referring to domesticated?

Here in Texas, there are a lot of farms that have had success raising exotic animals like elephants, giraffes, and goats from around the world. They're successful because the climate is close enough, and the animals have access to food similar to what they're acclimated to eating.

For an Alpine species native to areas with large temperature variations, I would hazard a guess that the main difficulty will be in finding a place at lower elevation with similar flora.

What draws you to Vicuna, specifically?

The vicuna produce a very fine wool that is highly valued. I want to find a way to pasture them at a lower elevation than they are used to in the Andes.

"Until recently, the vicuña was thought to not have been domesticated, and the llama and the alpaca were both regarded as descendants of the closely related guanaco. But recent DNA research has shown the alpaca may well have vicuña parentage.Today, the vicuña is mainly wild, but the local people still perform special rituals with these creatures, including a fertility rite."

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vicu%C3%B1a


There is a farm that sells Paco-vicuna which might be a alpaca:

http://www.jeffersonfarmsnaturalfibers.com/About-Us.html

Since Vicuna was an endangered species:

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,[1] 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.

Can you get a Vicuna to raise?