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Shearing of the Vicuñas

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Collection	Volunteer Photos
Photo Title	Shearing of the Vicuñas
Photo Description	One of the most interesting and unique experiences of my Peace Corps service was participating in the annual "roundup" and shearing of the vicuñas. Vicuñas are wild camelids that are native to the Andean highlands. These animals are known for having one of the finest wools in the world, which is greatly valued in foreign markets. Unlike the related llamas and alpacas, the vicuña has never been able to be domesticated. For this reason each year the towns people must form a committee that will then be responsible for gathering and shearing as many vicuñas as possible . This is done by setting up large nets in the shape of a funnel and then chasing the wild vicuñas into the end of the funnel. The vicuñas are then sheared and released. This photo was taken in the high zone of the town of San Pedro de Cajas in the department of Junin, Peru. The photo includes Volunteer Will Lindsey and a member of the vicuña comittee in 2010. In the photo a young vicuña is being held before its release, and in the background the rest of the vicuñas are awaiting shearing. The photo was taken in the first week of August, 2010. It was amazing experiencing such an economically and culturally important activity involving such a beautiful native species.
Contributor	William Lindsey
Region	South America
Country of Service	Peru
Service Dates (Beginning)	2009
Service Dates (Ending)	2011
Sector	Environment
Decade	2010s
Keywords	Animals Celebrations
Resource Type	Photo
Format	JPG
Date created	2011-07-27

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