Chinchilla is a small animal that belongs to the order of rodents, the chinchilla family. Now this animal is often found in homes. It is kept as a pet, but few people know where and how this animal lives in the wild. In this article we will talk about where chinchillas live, their lifestyle, nutrition, etc.
Appearance
In nature, there are two types of chinchillas:
- coastal - the ancestors of decorative long-tailed chinchillas;
- short-tailed - a more common species due to the fact that individuals are significantly larger in size and have worse quality fur.
Chinchillas are small in size:
- body - from 20 to 40 cm;
- tail - from 10 to 18 cm;
- ears - no more than 6 cm;
- vibrissa (mustache) - no more than 10 cm;
- males have an average weight of 0.7 kg and females 0.8 kg.
Chinchillas have a large round head and a short neck. The eyes are large, set wide. The fur is thick, soft, resembling plush, most often a gray-blue color with a light gray abdomen. Sometimes there are other color options.
Interesting features
- Chinchilla is a rodent, but it has only 20 teeth. And 16 of them are indigenous, which continue to grow throughout life.
- Chinchillas smell absolutely nothing, since they completely lack sweat glands.
- In times of danger, they can drop fur in shreds.
- When a chinchilla is unhappy with something, it makes a sound that can be mistaken for quacking.
Habitat
Information about where chinchillas live in the wild is not so easy to find. All sources give almost one short answer - the Andes mountain ranges. But let's try to "dig deeper."
The length of the Andes is more than nine thousand kilometers. They pass through many countries, for example, Venezuela, Colombia, Peru, Chile, etc. So where do chinchillas live? They live high in the mountains, at an altitude of 900 to 4,500 meters above sea level, where cold winds blow, and the temperature even in summer does not exceed +24 degrees. If we talk about the temperature at which chinchillas live, then cool is preferable for them. That is why they do not descend from the mountains, since the climate below is much milder and warmer.
But chinchillas owe such a severe climate to their thick and beautiful fur. Thanks to the difficult conditions where chinchillas live in nature, they were able to grow fur that any animal would envy - twenty-five thousand hairs per square centimeter of skin.
The favorite place of chinchillas is mountain crevices, caves and niches between the stones, but they do not disdain earthen burrows, which serve as shelter from predators - foxes, cougars, snakes. Due to the fact that there are a lot of volcanic ash where chinchillas live, they use it as a natural pool for bathing. Chinchilla baths are taken almost daily.
Food
In the wild, chinchillas are vegetarians, although they can be omnivores. But since where the chinchillas live, the diet is not diverse, I make up the roots, cereals, bark, twigs, lichens and the like food.
Chinchillas prefer to bypass the clearing with tall grass, as the thick fur prevents them from moving in it. He clings to the blades of grass, and in case of danger the animal will not be able to quickly hide.
Behavior
Due to the inaccessibility of the area where chinchillas live in the wild, very little is known about their behavior. They are very nimble and fast, and in case of the slightest danger they find shelter even where it would seem that it should not be. The animals owe this to the structure of their skeleton, which is easily compressed on the sides, and they can penetrate even the narrowest gap.
It is also known that chinchillas live in the wild in a rather limited space. In those areas where there are especially many animals, there can be colonies with more than one hundred individuals, rarely when less than six pairs are found.
Communication
In the evenings, where chinchillas live, you can hear a quiet gentle whisper - these are chinchillas talking with their brothers. And sometimes a sharp loud whistle is heard - the sound of danger, a warning to the rest. And if you hear whistling sounds similar to the rustling of grass, it means that a couple of chinchillas haven’t divided something, and they are rapidly sorting out the relationship.
In fact, the range of sounds is much more diverse. By separate sounds the animals call the cubs, resort to them during the mating season, express their displeasure or pain.
Lifestyle
Matriarchy reigns in the chinchilla colony. The female is not only much larger than the male, but also more aggressive.
Chinchillas are nocturnal animals. They go out in search of food at dusk or at night. Chinchillas are perfectly adapted for nightlife - they have large eyes with a vertical pupil, thanks to which they are equally well visible both day and night. And in complete darkness, vibrissae come to their aid - they have a very high sensitivity and help to navigate perfectly. If you add sensitive ears that can catch the quietest sounds, it will become clear that chinchillas are unusually prepared for nightlife, and they have practically no equal. In the afternoon, when heat hangs over the mountains, chinchillas prefer to sleep in cool minks.
In addition, in the chinchilla colony there is a distribution of responsibilities. Going out on a nightly search for food, they always leave a sentry who will monitor the area and, in case of danger, warn members of the pack with a sharp whistle.
They do not stock, unlike other rodents. Firstly, their small size allows them to be satisfied with a small amount of food, and secondly, usually where chinchillas live, chinchilla rats also live, the reserves of which can be used in case of emergency.
The dangers
Thanks to where chinchillas live, they don't have many enemies. The main enemy of the animal is the fox, which not only significantly exceeds their size, but also loves to hunt rodents. Other natural enemies of the chinchilla include nocturnal birds and snakes, as well as weasels and tairas. The latter are also dangerous in the fact that, having small dimensions, they can penetrate inside the shelter of the chinchilla.
Despite such formidable opponents, the animals easily leave them - this is facilitated by their increased reaction and coat color, which merges with the area where wild chinchillas live.
But the same fur that helps them survive in the wild played a cruel joke with them in a different situation ...
A bit of history
Until relatively recently, the chinchilla population was so numerous that it totaled tens of millions of individuals. It was during the time of the Indians, the Chinchas tribe, and the Incas, who were very fond of wearing capes of unusually beautiful silver fur. But after a while, the Indians were subjugated by the Spanish conquerors, who, along with the rest of the treasures of the Indians, brought beautiful silver clothes to Europe. This time was the end of not only the heyday of the Incas, but also a small defenseless animal. For the sake of a beautiful thick fur, it was destroyed by tens of thousands, and soon it became almost empty where the chinchillas lived. More than twenty million chinchillas were killed.
People realized only at the beginning of the 20th century, when, unfortunately, it was almost too late. Today, the population totals no more than ten thousand animals and, according to the latest information, they can be found only in Chile.
Since 2008, chinchillas have been listed in the Red Book, and a little earlier they began to try to breed them at home farms. Unfortunately, all attempts to resettle the animal in other places fail, and the mountainous Andes, due to poor ecology and lack of food, cannot even feed the small number of animals that we still have in the wild. Today, the answer to the question of where and how many chinchillas live, remains open. Under favorable conditions, they are able to live up to twenty years. But such conditions, unfortunately, are less and less, and their life expectancy has significantly decreased.
Conclusion
On the example of chinchillas, it is clearly seen that sometimes the dignity of animals, helping in other conditions to preserve their life and health, overnight can lead to a flaw that can completely destroy it. True, there is nothing worse than a man in pursuit of his needs. He is ready to tear everything down in his path. And it is unfortunate that the small animal was only to blame for the fact that nature awarded him a warm beautiful coat, in which he could survive in difficult harsh conditions.