CHINCHILLAS

Today, chinchillas are farm-raised for the fur trade, but illegal poaching of wild chinchillas continues to be a problem and hampers the animals' recovery in the wild... In the 1950s, the chinchilla was believed to have gone extinct in Chile, but surviving populations were eventually found in the Antofagasta Region in northern Chile. This region is extremely arid and vegetation is very scarce, except for areas near the River Loa and scattered oasises such as San Pedro de Atacama. Much of Antofagasta are salt flats, lava flows or tephra fields (also of volcanic origin)... In English, the name Chinchilla is used for two different species. Both species are rodents native to the Andes mountains in western South America. The domesticated chinchillas found in the pet trade are believed to hail from wild Chinchilla lanigera