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| Organization | Save the Wild Chinchillas |
| website | http://www.wildchinchillas.org/ |
| Country | Chile |
| Program Costs | $0 |
| Duration | Varies |
| Room & Board | Provided $0 |
| Language Requirements | Basic Spanish |
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Chinchillas are caviomorph rodents which once roamed the mountains and foothills
of South America. Chinchilla brevicaudata, short tailed chinchilla was hunted
severely and is endangered. Its native range included the Andes of Peru,
Bolivia, Chile and Argentina. The long tailed species, C. lanigera, has been
listed as endangered and was thought to be extirpated from its original range
which included the foothills of the Andes in Chile from northwest of
Potrerilloas south to Region IV(Jimenez 1996). Chinchilla are endangered because
of hunting and trapping of the animals for its pelts. Between 1895 and 1921 over
three million chinchilla pelts including a small number of live animals were
exported from Chile. Some authors report that more then 21 million chinchillas
were actually killed between 1840 and 1916 and only a fraction of those caught
were able to be exported (1996). Upon rediscovery of wild C. lanigera in central
Chile during the mid-1970's a series of studies on these endangered rodent
populations have tried to understand chinchillas, their habitat and populations
which continue to decline. |
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