Altiplano

George Steinmetz

National Geographic Magazine

Aerial view of vicuna found foraging early in the morning near edge of Salar de Uyuni. They appeared to have come for a drink of brackish water, then moving back toward mud flats of the Salar de Uyuni. Vicuna wool is prized for its warmth and softness and its fabric was reserved for Inca royalty. In the middle of the 20th Century these graceful high-altitude cameloids were almost hunted into extinction, but conservation efforts have allowed populations to rebound. Controlled harvesting vicuna wool has recently been legalized in Bolivia and some other Andean countries.

George Steinmetz, "Altiplano," in POYi Archive, Item #41855, http://archive.poy.org/items/show/41855 (accessed November 22, 2024).