Vicuña wool is so fine and soft that it was once reserved only for Inca royalty. Today it is still one of the most expensive natural fibres on Earth. One vicuña produces only about 200 grams of wool per year — less than the weight of an apple — which is why it is so precious. The wool is light golden-brown, like warm sunshine.
Vicuñas live in herds on the high grasslands called the puna, at altitudes between 3,500 and 5,000 metres. The air is very thin up there, but vicuñas have special blood that carries oxygen extra efficiently. Their hearts are unusually large for their size, helping pump that oxygen-rich blood around their bodies.
Unlike their cousins the llama and alpaca, vicuñas cannot be domesticated — they must stay wild. To collect their wool, local communities hold a traditional ceremony called chaku, where they herd vicuñas gently into a circular corral, shear a little wool, and then release them unharmed. This tradition is thousands of years old.
After nearly being hunted to very low numbers in the past century, vicuñas have made a wonderful comeback thanks to protection laws. Bolivia now has many thousands of them roaming the high plains. Seeing a herd of vicuñas moving together across a golden hillside is one of the special sights of the Andes.