Back from the brink: Vicuña The vicuña is relative of the llama that lives in the Andes and has been prized since Inca times for its extremely fine wool. Its population has recovered from 6,000 in 1974 to about 350,000 today. As a result, Cites may vote to end the total ban on trade in its wool. The wool can only be shorn every three years and has to be taken from wild vicuña, as the animals are too good at escaping to domesticate

Photograph: CRIS BOURONCLE/AFP