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Recovery and Management
in Chile
In the 16th century, the total vicuña population
of
Peru, Bolivia, Chile and Argentina is estimated to
have exceeded several million (Hoffmann et al. 1983; Cueto et al. 1985).
During the following period of European colonization, however, vicuña numbers began to decline.
This decline became even more acute during the 20th century, as a result
of excessive commercial hunting with guns and dogs. By the early
1950's, vicuña numbers had fallen to around 400,000 and a census in the late 1960s showed that there were
only 5,000 to
10,000 vicuñas left in Perú, and fewer than 2,000 vicuñas remaining in Bolivia, Chile and
Argentina (Rabinovics et al. 1991). In 1970, when the national population
was estimated to be as few as 500 animals, the Chilean Forestry Service
(CONAF) initiated a long-term program for vicuña conservation in Chile (Cattan
and Glade 1989). This program involved the creation of protected areas in
the northern Chilean altiplano. The program’s primary objectives were to
stop poaching, to halt the illegal traffic of fiber, and to apply the
Vicuña Convention (Torres 1992).
Soon after the Vicuña Convention was
implemented, the first ranger guards were stationed within vicuña habitat
(1970-1975). Since then, yearly counts have allowed close monitoring of
population recovery (Galaz, 1998; Rodriguez and Nuñez 1987). Initially, a
single National Park was created in the Parinacota Province to protect the
vicuña and other species. More recently, this park has been subdivided
into three different management areas (Galaz 1998; Rojas & Galaz 1998).
During the 1980s, the protection phase was supplemented by research into
the basic ecology and behavior of vicuñas in the wild (Cattan &
Glade 1989; Glade 1982; Glade & Cattan 1987) and reproductive physiology
in captivity (Schwarzenberger et al. 1995; Urquieta et al. 1994; Urquieta
and Rojas 1990).
Successful population recovery has begun
to shift the emphasis away from conservation towards the sustainable use
of this species (Rabinovich et al. 1985; Wheeler & Hoces 1997; Macdonald &
Tattersall 1996). Several studies on the quality of vicuña fiber and
potential ways to distribute the benefits of sustainable use of the vicuña
have been conducted. The results of these studies led to a strategic plan
for the sustainable use of the vicuña (CONAF 1991). This plan anticipated
that the vicuña would be used sustainably by local communities by the
early 1990s (CONAF 1991; Torres 1992). However, this sustainable use phase
was delayed because legal aspects pertaining to the distribution of
benefits to local communities could not be agreed upon (Gonzalez et al. 1991;
Rojas & Galaz 1998).
In 1995, a new phase of research began
in which the main goal was to study the physiological response of the
species to management operations (Bonacic 1996). New aspects of
sustainability were investigated, relating to the efficiency of capture
methods, the effects of shearing and the consequences of exploitation on
the population structure (Bonacic 2000).
A successful sustainable use program
will depend on effective communication and co-operation between different
scientific disciplines (e.g. ecology, animal behavior, economics,
marketing). Also, because genetic research has now revealed that the
alpaca is descended from the vicuña, research findings from the study of
either of these two camelids can be used to suggest avenues of management
for the other.
Modern use of vicuña
fiber1
The vicuña, along with other South
American camelids, is one member of the group of animals that produce rare
fibers. Other examples include goats and rabbits which produce mohair, cashmere and angora. Internationally,
vicuña fiber has been well-known in the textile
industry for more than 100 years. For example, at the end of the 19th
century, one of the most important mills in Scotland developed the use of
the vicuña fiber and specialized in vicuña fiber processing and
commercialization. During the first half of the 20th century, vicuña fiber
was well established on the international market.
The American Wool Handbook (1948),
described an average diameter of 13.2 microns (range 6-25 microns) for 1100 fibers measured (Koford
1957; Torres 1987). The vicuña has a double-coated fleece and is one of
the most valuable and highly prized sources of animal fiber (Russel
1997). The coarse fibers (i.e. guard hairs) are produced from primary skin
follicles and the fine fibre (i.e. undercoat) from secondary
follicles. The undercoat fibers are the commercially important part of the
fleece, but require mechanical removal from the guard hair (i.e. dehairing).
Vicuña fiber is highly prized because its very fine and
soft and has a high dehaired yield (Carpio 1991; Hoffmann et al. 1983).
Torres (1987) estimated that a total
yield of 250 g of fiber could be obtained from Vicugna vicugna mensalis by
shearing every two years. If an estimated life span of 8 years in the wild
is considered, a total of 1 kilo of fiber could potentially be harvested
from an adult vicuña. Berger, (1963) stated that a range of between 180 to
335 g of fiber could be obtained from vicuñas every two years, and also
reported a maximum yield of 335 g. The difference in reported yields for
vicuñas could be a consequence of different shearing methods, as well as
individual differences.
Wheller (1995) described Vicugna vicugna
mensalis as having an average coat fiber length of 3.28 cm in adult
animals, with the long chest hair frequently reaching up to 20 cm. The
fleece fiber diameter in Vicugna vicugna mensalis is 12.52 +
1.52 microns (Carpio,
1991; Hoffmann et al., 1983). Wheller (1995) pointed out that no similar
statistics are available for Vicugna vicugna vicugna. The Chilean National
Forest Corporation (CONAF 1991) reported 186.5 g of fleece from each
vicuña (V.v. vicugna) shorn in the Chilean puna (CONAF, 1991). This
shearing was done by a method similar to that used on sheep.
A description of fiber quality from
Chilean vicuñas is presented in Table 1.
These animals were sampled at Las Vicuñas Natural Reserve (19o S, 69 30'
W). had a mean
fiber
diameter of 15.13 + 1.01 microns, with no significant differences
between sex and age groups. The lack of difference between ages and sexes
suggests that the fleece of the vicuña is highly homogeneous, especially
in terms of diameter of fine fibers. The percentage of medulla was low (only 1.9%
+ 2.89) and similarly showed no
significant difference due to sex and age. Hair diameter showed a mean
value of 57.4 microns, with a maximum and minimum hair diameter of
107 microns and 33 microns respectively. Hair fibers were present as a low
percentage of the fleece (1.9 % + 1.33), again, with no observable sex or
age differences.
Fleece composition by body region was
studied in juvenile males by Bonacic (1996). A qualitative evaluation
of the fiber showed extraordinary softness and luster, although sand and
seeds gave some “blurry appearance” to the fleece from the lowest parts of
the body. The fleece region had small amounts of the coarser hair, easily
detectable because of a darker brown color and high diameter. The
fleece is compact and the fiber fineness makes it difficult to part the
fibers in the fleece. The whole fleece was uniform for fiber fineness, staple
length, character (crimp, staple configuration, handle) and density of
fibers within the fleece (Bonacic, 1996). However, this level of
uniformity changes dramatically towards the front neck region and lower
parts of the body. The fleece of the tail is mainly hair and is very
short, hence of very limited commercial value.
Table 2
summarizes the main characteristics of the fleece from different body
regions of the vicuña (Bonacic,
1996). The fleece showed a mean total weight of
263 + 23.1 g (n = 8 animals). The fleece region accounted for
68%, the belly 11% and only 23% of the fleece weight was obtained from
parts of the body with poor fleece quality (front neck, legs and tail) (Bas et al.,
1995).
Table 3 compares the fiber quality of
vicuñas with other South American camelids (Bonacic, 1996; Bas et al., 1995). Vicuña
fleece shows the smallest undercoat fiber diameter and lowest percentage
of medullated fiber. This means that vicuña fleece has the finest fiber of
all the South American camelid species – a fact that is highly
significant in terms of the commercial value of the fiber for making
textiles. However, in comparison with the alpaca, fleece weight, staple
length and presence of hair are less favourable characteristics of the
vicuña fleece. Fiber characteristics of vicuñas from Chile are similar to
those from Perú, confirming that the vicuña fleece is the finest fiber of South American camelids.
Response of vicuñas to
management
The fleece of the vicuña is the result
of selection pressures exerted by a highly variable environment, that
includes large daily temperature fluctuations, intense solar radiation
during the day, and high winds (Wilson 1989) (CONAF, 1991; INIA, 1989).
The thick coat of the vicuña provides insulation and reduces exposure to
solar radiation and drying, enabling the animal to adapt to rapid changes
of temperature and wind (Koford 1957). In addition, the long cream-colored
fur on the chest serves to protect the animal from the wind and cushions
the animal's body when it is resting on the ground (Koford 1957).
The stress of management by humans,
particularly shearing, may affect the welfare and health of vicuñas by
increasing exposure to wind and low overnight temperatures in the extreme
climate of the puna ecosystem. Vicuñas may therefore become susceptible to
wind-chill and hypothermia. Thermoregulation in camelids is accomplished
by evaporative cooling (sweating) via the "thermal window". This “thermal
window” is a relatively hairless area on the ventral abdomen (the axillary
space), and also on the inner thighs (Baunmann et al. 1975; Rosenmann &
Morrison 1963). Obviously, shearing takes away from the vicuña an
attribute that has survival value, and thus is likely to be
disadvantageous. Nevertheless, it is not obvious just how disadvantageous
shearing is, and how its negative impacts can best be mitigated by
alternative protocols (Bonacic & Macdonald 2003).
Management of the vicuña involves
capture, handling and shearing wild individuals (Figure 3). Capture and
transport combined cause changes in blood glucose, packed cell volume, cortisol and neutrophil:lymphocyte ratios within 4-6 hours following
capture (Bonacic & Macdonald 2003). Creatin kinase is also affected by
capture and transport, showing a peak plasma level 24 hours after capture,
followed by a peak plasma level in aspartate aminotransferase four days
after capture and transport. However, after 12 days in captivity, vicuñas
show physiological parameters close to expected baseline values for the
species (Table 4 from Bonacic et al, 2003).
Future directions in
vicuña management
Two main approaches for sustainable use
of South American wild camelids have been discussed (Bonacic in: Gonzalez
et al. 2000). The first approach stresses the need to keep vicuñas under a
wild management regime for effective conservation of the species. The
second approach promotes the farming of vicuñas as a new economic activity
with tremendous potential not only for local communities in the altiplano,
but also for private businesses elsewhere.
Currently, there is no agreement between
the nations of the Vicuña Convention about the future direction the
program should take. For example, Argentina promotes vicuña farming with a
model based on 30 years of captive farming of vicuña (at the Abrapampa
experimental station) (Rebuffi 1993). The goal has been to develop an
extensive farming system to produce fiber and to promote small captive
farming units throughout the Argentine altiplano (Service 1999).
Perú favours privatized ownership of
vicuñas (Hoces 1999) and fencing for an extensive ranching system
(Martinez 1996). Wild vicuñas are enclosed in extensive plots (1,000 ha)
and rounded up and sheared periodically (Hoces 1999; Lichtenstein et al.
submitted; Wheeler and Reitz 1987). Bolivia is starting to implement a
sustainable use program within local communities (Oryx 1999). The policy
in Chile treads the middle ground, choosing to be cautious until more
detailed studies have been carried out to elucidate the long term effects
that any management strategy may have on the vicuña population. To these ends,
Chile continues a long-term research programme to study aspects of vicuña
population dynamics, and the effects of sustainable exploitation and
captive herds in extensive systems coupled with efficient anti-poaching
control to promote conservation of the wild populations (Service 1999).
Regardless of the methods employed to
manage the exploitation of vicuña fiber, a major potential problem is the
expected profit. A current international price of US$300-800/kilo (dehaired)
has been suggested as suitable value for the fiber (Bas et al. 1995; Hoces
1998). However, what seems highly profitable in the short term should be
assessed in the context of a high initial investment and low productivity.
The whole investment appears to be high risk (G. Lichtenstein, personal
communication). Any proposed move from the sustainable use of wild
populations towards the captive farming of vicuña seems to increase the
costs and risks to the investor, and the likelihood of any short-term
profit is decreased.
Another important factor to consider is
that any potential market for the fiber may be restricted and small (Bas
et al., 1995). Fashion driven markets can be highly volatile over the
short term, so fluctuations in demand for the fiber may be considerable.
Currently, only one European company has succeeded in buying fiber from
Perú and the price has been falling since the first public auction (Hoces,
1999).
Final Remarks
The vicuña is a species well adapted to
survive in a low productive ecosystem with an extremely variable
climate. Behavioral and ecological adaptations enable the vicuña to
thrive in this harsh environment. Its fine fleece is a unique evolutionary
adaptation that protects it from the extreme weather, but has condemned it
to be persecuted and hunted since pre-Hispanic times. Today, after an
international program of conservation, vicuñas are recovering from the
brink of extinction.
The vicuña program is now entering a
critical stage and the future direction the program takes could lead to
conflicts with the program's original objectives. The strong trend for
interfering with natural populations, whether by fencing or
captive-raising seems incompatible with the initial criteria of sustainable use.
In ecological terms, a herding system with minimal intervention in the
wild population would be the best plan to secure continued sustainable use
of the species. This plan also minimizes unnecessary stress to vicuñas due
to shearing.
In both cases, poaching remains one
of the major threats to vicuna conservation. The lack of efficient
law enforcement in a vast and harsh environment is becoming a negative factor
towards the aim of sustainable use of the species. It is easier and faster to
shoot a vicuna with a .22 caliber rifle than to wait for population recovery
within a wildlife management system or take care of captive vicuñas after
fiber collection.
To date, no captive farming regime has
been shown to produce vicuña fiber profitably. While the future envisaged
for the vicuña seems glowing, from eco-tourism to ranching and farming,
its final fate lies in the hands of human society, both the local
(original communities) and international markets. If poaching control is
not effective, many years of protection and research will be in vain, and
a project that was once considered a model for
sustainable use will be endangered.
Footnotes
1. Co-author for this section: Hilary
Redden, Macaulay Land Use Research Institute, Aberdeen, Scotland.
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Information about
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Photograph at top of page: a young
vicuña with baby alpacas in the background. Vicuñas often forage near
domestic herds of llamas, alpacas and even sheep during the day, mainly in
meadows (also called bofedales). Such close
distance grazing is common on the altiplano, with little disturbance
caused to the vicuñas. Shepherds typically move their domestic herds
from corrals to the meadows for grazing during midday. Sometimes
vicuñas are herded back to corrals with llamas and alpacas, and
orphan vicuñas are raised by farmers. Photo by Jay Joslin
(USA).
The author is:
Dr. Cristian Bonacic (PhD in Zoology, Oxford University).
The proper citation is:
Bonacic C
2011
Vicuña Ecology and Management. ECOLOGY.INFO 27.
If you are aware of any important
scientific publications about the vicuña that were omitted from this
review, or have other suggestions for improving it, please contact the
author at his e-mail address:
bona {at} uc.cl
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