Argentine scientists and shepherds have shown they can obtain the valuable wool from the wild vicuña (Lama vicugna) using methods that do not harm these cousins of the llama. The team captured 120 vicuñas, of which 75 were sheared, obtaining some 250 grams of wool per animal (the wool sells for as much as 500 dollars per kilo). The experiment took place in the Andean town of Cieneguillas in northeast Argentina.

The Sustainable Management Project for Wild South American Camelids is headed by biologist Bibiana Vilá, of the National Council for Scientific and Technical Research. She worked with scientists and shepherds from the association Los Pioneros.

Vilá estimates that during the era of Inca domination in the region, there were 1.5 million vicuñas in Peru, Bolivia and parts of northern Argentina and Chile, but hunting for their prized wool decimated the population, leaving just 10,000 by 1970, when the animal gained protected status.