You’ll find these interesting animals in South America – Peru, southern Ecuador and down to the middle of Bolivia.
Did you know that alpacas and llamas are actually part of the camel family? I didn’t. At least not until I came across this vintage vicugna drawing from the 11th Encyclopedia. It was published in 1911 but is considered to be in the public domain around the world.
The wool of these animals is extremely soft and delicate but vicugna do not produce it in great quantities. The Incas used to capture the animals, sheer them and then return them to the wild.
Vicugna are the smallest of all the camels. They can, however, run up to 47km an hour. Unfortunately, animals like the one in the vicugna drawing are classified as vulnerable by the IUCN, and as endangered by the USDI.
This image is copyright free and in the public domain anywhere that extends copyrights 70 years after death or at least 120 years after publication when the original illustrator is unknown.
