From Peruvians shear vicunas in annual roundup:
Hundreds of villagers march side by side across the wind-blasted Andean plain, closing in on their prey: herds of nervous, fast-moving vicunas — the smaller, wilder cousins of llamas and alpacas.Chanting and shaking a long rope with colorful streamers, the participants encircle the shaggy-coated animals in a ritual that was known to the ancient Inca, but nearly abandoned in the 20th century.
For decades, poachers seeking the world’s most valuable wool simply shot vicunas rather than struggle to trap the elusive animals that can run 30 miles an hour, and by 1964 their numbers had dwindled to just 12,000.
But today, vicunas are captured, shorn and released. The main event is Peru’s national chaccu — an annual roundup that is both a renewed expression of indigenous culture and a triumph for an international campaign to save the once-endangered animals.