Viscachas and Chinchillas: Chinchillidae

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.