Births usually occur in the morning. This allows the baby time to dry out before the cold night comes. The mother goes off on its own and into labor for about half an hour. The mother does nothing to help the baby, not even licking it. The baby is at this stage vulnerable to the attack of the vicuna s most dangerous predator the Andean Condor.
Rain is the animal s worst enemy at the beginning stages of life.
The coldness and the damp will slow the newborn down and make it an easy target for the condor. Poachers, however, have nearly exterminated the vicuna. They have even resorted to mowing the animals down with machine guns. Annually up to 50,000 pounds of vicuna wool are exported as a result of illegal activities. Some countries have now banned the importation of vicuna wool and skin in an effort to save the animal.