Respuestas
characteristics
Class: Mammals.
Order: Artiodáctilos.
Family: Camelids.
Distribution: Cordillera de los Andes.
Habitat: Altiplanicie between 3,700 and 4,700 m.
Food: Herbivorous.
Height: 75-95 cm.
Length: 155-165 cm.
Tail length: 15-20 cm.
Weight: 45-55 Kg.
Gestation: 11 months.
Number of offspring: 1 young.
Weight at birth: 4-6 kg.
Breastfeeding: 3-6 months.
Sexual maturity: 2 years.
Longevity: 15-20 years
Description
Camelid with a very long neck and a small head. Its ears and eyes are prominent and it has a central cleft in the upper lip. Its fur is very fine being very appreciated. They have long, silky, dirty white locks that hang from the chest and protect it from the cold when it is thrown. The back neck and sides are light brown or cinnamon; The belly and inside of the thighs are white. The extremities are long and the anterior third of the body is lower than the posterior.
Feeding
The vicuña feeds almost exclusively on grass, preferring water-rich areas. They prefer short and herbaceous grasses and some succulent plants; they rarely eat hard pastures, although they do lichens.
Reproduction
The courtship of the vicuñas is very primitive, the male very excited, chases the chosen female until exhausted, pushes, bites and gives the impression of force to copulation. The copulation takes place with the female standing or kneeling and sometimes lying down. The pregnancy lasts about 11 months, the females breed every year and come into heat as soon as they give birth. The only baby is able to walk almost nothing else to be born. About a year, young males are expelled from the flock and form groups of singles
Customs and social life
The vicuña has its world below the perpetual snows of the Cordillera de los Andes (5,500 m) and always below 3,600 m. They live in herds dominated by a male guide that everyone follows and up to 15 females. Each herd inhabits a territory of about 40 hectares defended by the male. The young males unite in groups of 20 to 50 individuals, waiting for the opportunity to be the owner of the harem. It is of sedentary and diurnal customs.
State of conservation
In the first years of the decade of the seventies, it was estimated that only in fifteen years the population would have been reduced by up to ninety-six percent of its strength. Protectionist measures and captive breeding projects hope to allow this beautiful animal to overcome the barrier of extinction. Its main enemies are the puma and the fox and after these the man, who has hunted it due to the softness, beauty and value of his hair
vicuña: Ruminant mammal similar to the llama, but about 75 cm high on the cross, more slender and agile, and with short and thin hair, light tan; it lives in the wild in the Andes, forming herds.