Other Free Encyclopedias » Animal Life Resource » Mammals » Viscachas and Chinchillas: Chinchillidae - Physical Characteristics, Behavior And Reproduction, Viscachas, Chinchillas And People, Conservation Status, Long-tailed Chinchilla (chinchilla Lanigera): Species Account - GEOGRAPHIC RANGE, HABITAT, DIET

Viscachas and Chinchillas: Chinchillidae - Viscachas, Chinchillas And People

live ten species

All species in this family, but especially the chinchillas, have been intensively harvested and farmed commercially for their valuable fur as well as for their meat. Their pelts are still the most expensive in the world. Plains viscachas are considered a pest and are destroyed in large numbers in many areas because their foraging leaves large swaths of bare ground (ten of them are rumored to eat as much as a sheep daily) and their burrows cause many cows and horses to break legs when they accidentally step into them.

LONG LIVE THE CHINCHILLA

Many chinchilla species live up to ten years in the wild and sometimes over twenty in captivity. Some have even been known to start families at fifteen years old, having been sexually mature since eight months of age.

Viscachas and Chinchillas: Chinchillidae - Conservation Status [next] [back] Viscachas and Chinchillas: Chinchillidae - Behavior And Reproduction

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