Animal Facts:
Vicuñas are native to the central Andes in South America and live at altitudes of 3,200–5,700 metres. The temperature there is relatively warm during the day, but at night it can drop to freezing. In that case, the vicuña’s thick, soft coat comes in handy because it traps layers of warm air close to its body.
Beyond that, vicuñas are perfectly equipped to live at high altitudes – where less oxygen is available – by compensating for this with their large heart and specialised blood cells with more haemoglobin, which helps to transport oxygen around their bodies.
The areas where they live are covered with short and tough vegetation, on which vicuñas graze. They also frequently lick calcareous rocks, which are rich in salt.
Vicuñas have separate feeding and sleeping territories. During the day, they search out an area that has a water source while climbing up to higher altitudes at night.
Vicuñas are very nimble climbers, which allows them to evade less agile predators. However, one of their main predators, the puma, is as good a climber as they are, and the condor can attack them from the sky.
The vicuña is the smallest member of the camel family and is regarded as the alpaca’s wild ancestor.
They live in family-based groups made up of a dominant male, several females and their young. Vicuñas are polygynous, which means that the dominant male mates with all mature females from his herd. Females each give birth to a single fawn.
Meanwhile, young males form bachelor groups or become solitary.
Vicuñas’ vision and hearing are both good and they’re highly communicative, signalling one another with body postures and ear and tail placement on top of using different vocalisations. Those include an alarm call – a high-pitched whinny – that alerts the herd to danger, a soft humming sound to signal bonding or greeting, and a range of guttural sounds that communicate anger or fear. There’s also orgling, which is a melodic sound made by males when they want to attract females.
And of course, vicuñas spit like all other camelids. A female will use this behaviour to tell a male that she’s not interested, and a male will spit at an opponent when they’re fighting over mating rights.
Beyond that, both sexes spit to keep competitors away from food and to establish dominance or to defend themselves.
Some spiritual meanings:
Vicuñas are well adapted to living at high altitudes and are known for their perseverance and resilience.
You’re adaptable and can easily manage whatever problems are thrown at you. But be mindful not to take on too much at once.
The vicuña is sure-footed when climbing.
Are things unstable in your life right now? Do you feel insecure regarding how to move forward?
Make sure you’re on solid ground before acting.
Know that you can easily manoeuvre treacherous environments.
Vicuñas are very social animals, preferring the company of herds to isolation.
Are you social enough? Or do you need more people in your corner?
Use this time to connect to your loved ones by leaning how to be truly intimate with them.
Vicuñas are very communicative and can often be heard humming to each other.
Are you saying all that needs to be expressed? And do you hear what others tell you? Do you also listen to the undertones?
The vicuña is known to spit when it feels threatened.
Do you have healthy boundaries? Can you set them without becoming aggressive?
If there’s a truth you need to tell, take a lesson from the vicuña and spit it out.
Be honest about your emotions and communicate them clearly and openly to others.
More to discover:
If you want to read up on more spirit animals or want to learn more about spiritual topics in general, pick up a copy of my two-book series “Willow and Strix” ©, available as paperback or ebook (free for kindle unlimited users) US – UK – DE and in other countries
A. Wakan's Spirit Animals 