Poachers kill 150 rare animals in Peru

Lima, April 9 (IANS/EFE) Poachers in Peru have killed over 150 vicuas, a rare animal prized for its wool, which sells at $1,000 for each animal in the international market.

This is the second such incident this year in the southern highlands region of Ayacucho.

The vicuna, an animal related to the llama but much more scarce, is hunted for its valuable wool. Fibre obtained from the bodies of two such animals is valued at $400 in the local market and $2,000 in international markets, a report said Thursday.

The poachers killed more than 150 animals, including newborns and adults, last week when they entered some remote grazing land, Wilder Mitta, Ocaa district president was quoted as saying.

Ayacucho is home to most of Peru’s 140,000 vicuas, which are protected by communities of breeders. Only those communities are authorised to shear the animals’s extremely fine wool for commercial purposes.

The poachers were also responsible for the slaughter of more than 300 vicuas in February in Laramate district, he said.

–IANS/EFE