A vicuña in Chimborazo Territory, Ecuador 

Along with its cousins, the llama, alpaca, and guanaco, the vicuña is one of four South American camelids. (They’re related to, you speculated it, camels.) And whereas they’re all prized for their fleece, the vicuña brags the finest strands of the quartet, at once uncommonly delicate, lightweight and exceptionally warm. Vicuña fleece is one of the foremost costly textures within the world, distant surpassing the taken a toll of cashmere. This expensive coat has been both a boon and a risk to the vicuña. Conservation endeavors to support the vicuña’s numbers – and hence the sum of fleece that can be shorn – have been fruitful. But it’s moreover brought about in vicuña poaching and illicit sneaking of the prized fleece. The vicuña we see in our picture is one of a generally little populace presented to Ecuador and secured inside a wild stop on the slants of Chimborazo spring of gushing lava.