Common Name: Chinchilla Scientific Name: Chinchilla lanigera
VULNERABLE Chinchilla Distribution: South America
Habitat: Grassland Height: Approx. 30cm Weight: Up to 700g Diet: Herbivorous
The chinchilla are rodents and are most famous for their soft fur. Chinchilla hair is one of the most dense types of fur of any animal in the world with 8 superfine hairs growing out of each hair folicle. In the wild chinchillas are a natural grey colour so that they are camouflaged with their environment. However, Chinchilla have now been bred for the pet trade for many years. In the pet markets you can get chinchillas with fur that ranges from black to snowy white. In the wild chinchillas are found in western south America in the Andes mountains where they inhabit the high grasslands. Chinchilla will spend most of their time eating. Their diet is made up of roots, fruit, leaves and bark. They gain water from drinking dew and condensation, as well as from their food. Chinchillas are very social creatures and live in large colonies of around 100 individuals. Living in large groups helps with predator detection. The chinchilla lives in rock crevices and is good at jumping around using its tail for balance. The species is monogamous, the male and female pair. The female gives birth to 1 – 4 young after a period of 111 days, which drink milk for the first 6 weeks of life as well as eating plants.