Vicuñas at Herberstein Wildlife Park

A Real Camel, Even Without Humps
When you think of a camel, images of caravans of two-humped dromedaries immediately come to mind. But who would have thought that the vicuñas—which have no humps at all—are actually the camels of South America? The smallest members of the camel family inhabit the Puna highlands of the Andes and, despite the harsh conditions caused by the thin air at high altitudes, are extremely resilient. Compared to an animal of the same size living in the lowlands, they have a heart twice as large and a high number of red blood cells, which are also specially shaped to improve oxygen transport.

Did you know?

Like all camels, the vicuña only spits when it feels threatened and is about to attack. However, it doesn’t spit conventional saliva, but rather partially digested food. So while it smells very bad, it otherwise has no consequences for the person it hits.