Vicuña

The world’s finest wool

Vicuña wool is the finest natural fiber in the world — fibers averaging 12 micrometers in diameter, finer than cashmere (14–18 μm) and finer even than silk. The fibers are also exceptionally soft and warm, the result of the vicuña’s adaptations to extreme high-altitude cold.

A single vicuña produces only about 200 grams of usable wool every two years. The combination of small yield, high quality, and protected status drives extreme prices: vicuña wool sweaters retail for $3,000–$10,000+, and vicuña fabric for high-end suits sells at $1,500–$3,000 per meter.

Chaccu — sustainable harvest

The Inca tradition of chaccu — a community-organized, non-killing wool harvest — has been revived in modern Peru. Vicuñas are gently herded into corrals once every two years, sheared by hand, and released. The practice provides income for highland communities while preserving the wild population.

Each vicuña is identified by ear tags, and harvest data is tracked. Wool from chaccu programs is the only legal source of vicuña wool internationally — strictly regulated under CITES.

Recovery story

In 1974, vicuña populations had collapsed to fewer than 6,000 individuals across the Andes, driven by uncontrolled poaching for wool. International protection, anti-poaching enforcement, and the chaccu economic incentive structure (giving local communities reasons to protect rather than poach) have driven a remarkable recovery. Today vicuña populations exceed 350,000 across their range, listed as Least Concern.

Family relations

Vicuñas are one of four South American camelids:

• Wild: vicuña and guanaco (Lama guanicoe).
• Domesticated: llama (L. glama) and alpaca (L. pacos).

Genetic evidence shows the alpaca is descended from vicuñas, while the llama descends from guanacos — confirmed by DNA analysis only in the early 2000s. The two domesticated species split from their wild ancestors several thousand years ago.