When vicuñas were domesticated by humans—meaning they were taken from the wild, tamed, and included in farm life—their bodies and behaviors changed. They became alpacas! I have not seen any alpacas in Chile. I have only seen vicuñas in the wild, here.
When I first saw the vicuña, I thought, “Wow! That looks like a deer, but it is walking like a llama!” Vicuñas are a type of camelid so they can go a long time without drinking water. They do very well in dry climates. Vicuñas are herbivores. This means they only eat plants—they do not eat other animals. There are four types of camelids in South America: the llama, alpaca, vicuña, and the guanaco. The guanaco and the vicuña are the only wild camelids. The vicuña is the smallest of the four camelids.
The vicuña lives in South America. They also live in Peru, Bolivia, Argentina, and northern Chile. Vicuñas typically live in high altitudes and in places where humans typically suffer from altitude sickness (10,000-16,000 feet above sea level).
Vicuñas are solitary creatures, so they enjoy being alone without humans around. Vicuñas are shy. They use the plants in their environment to stay alive and to find nutrients. Like other camelids, vicuñas spit when they feel threatened. In Chile, the police use a type of truck that spits water at people who are protesting. This tactic is used to break up violence or protest.
