Short-tailed chinchilla facts for kids
Quick facts for kids Short-tailed chinchilla |
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Chinchilla
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chinchilla
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The short-tailed chinchilla (scientific name Chinchilla chinchilla) is a small, furry rodent that lives high up in the Andes Mountains of South America. It's known for its incredibly soft fur, which is extremely fine and dense, with up to 50 hairs in a single follicle compared to just one in humans. This makes chinchilla fur very valuable and desirable in the fur industry.
They are part of the Chinchilla genus, which has two main species: the short-tailed chinchilla and the long-tailed chinchilla.
Historically, short-tailed chinchillas could be found in several countries, including Chile, Argentina, Peru, and Bolivia. However, their numbers have sadly decreased significantly over time. As of 2025, they are considered an endangered species, meaning there aren't many left in the wild.
In recent years, chinchillas have also become popular as pets.
Contents
Appearance
Short-tailed Chinchillas have some unique features that help them live in their mountain home. They are generally a bit smaller than long-tailed chinchillas, but they can look a little bigger because they have thicker necks and wider shoulders. Their tail is shorter, usually measuring up to 100 mm (about 4 inches). They have wide heads and small cheek pouches.
An adult short-tailed chinchilla typically measures between 23–38 cm (about 9-15 inches) long and weighs around 400-800 grams (about 0.9-1.8 pounds). Young chinchillas, called kits, weigh between 113-170 grams (about 0.25-0.37 pounds) before they are fully grown.
The fur of the short-tailed chinchilla is incredibly thick and fine. It is great for keeping them warm in the cold Andes Mountains. The color of their fur can vary, including shades of violet, sapphire, blue-grey, beige, brown, ebony, gray, white, cream, and pearl. Each hair often has a black tip. Their belly is usually a lighter cream or off-white color.
While their thick fur is great for warmth, it also means they can get too hot easily because they can't pant or sweat like some other animals. Their ears have finer hair and help them cool down by pumping blood through them.
Chinchillas are well-suited for climbing and jumping in the mountains. They have short front legs and long, strong back legs. Their feet have pads and weak claws that help them move over rocks without slipping. They also have very long whiskers, called vibrissae, which can be around 100 mm (about 4 inches) long. These whiskers help them feel their way around, especially in the dark. Their large eyes have vertical pupils, giving them good vision at night. Their big ears help them hear faint sounds, which is important for listening out for predators.
Behavior
Scientists don't know much about short-tailed chinchillas because they are quite shy and hard to observe in the wild. However, they are known to be very intelligent. In nature, they are timid and spend most of the day hiding to avoid being seen by animals that might hunt them. Chinchillas are crepuscular, which means they are most active during the twilight hours – dawn and dusk. They use their long whiskers to help them find food in the low light.
When the sun comes up, chinchillas like to sunbathe and groom themselves. A unique way they groom is by taking dust baths. In the wild Andes Mountains, they roll around in volcanic ash. This helps to clean their fur, remove oils from their skin, and prevent their fur from getting matted. Pet chinchilla owners often provide them with special dust or sand baths for the same reasons.
Social structure
Chinchillas are social animals and usually live together in groups called colonies or herds. These groups can range in size from just a few individuals to up to a hundred.
Reproduction
Short-tailed Chinchillas are believed to have one mating partner. Since the females are slightly larger, they are often dominant over the males. They typically mate twice a year. The breeding season in the Northern Hemisphere is usually from November to May.
When a female chinchilla is pregnant, the gestation period (the time she carries the babies) lasts for about 128 days. Females can have up to two litters of babies, called kits, each year, although having three litters is rare. The number of kits in a litter can range from one to six, but two is the average. Newborn kits are quite developed and can start eating plant food soon after they are born. They are usually weaned (stop drinking their mother's milk) at about 6 weeks old.
Short-tailed chinchillas grow up relatively quickly. They can become ready to reproduce at an average age of 8 months, though some pet chinchillas have been observed to mature as early as 5.5 months.
Vocal Sounds
Chinchillas use different sounds to communicate with each other. They have about ten distinct calls that they use depending on the situation. They might make a whistle-like sound, growl, or chatter their teeth to warn others about danger. If they are bothered, they might make a hiss-and-spit noise.
Habitat
Short-tailed chinchillas primarily live in burrows they dig themselves or in rocky crevices. Their homes are usually in mountainous areas with shrubs and grasses nearby. Their habitat is typically dry and high up, with sparse thorny shrubs, cacti, and succulents. They live at high altitudes where temperatures can drop significantly at night. Because of their environment, they have adapted to use less energy by having a low metabolic rate. As crepuscular animals, they search for food mainly at dawn and dusk.
Distribution
In the past, short-tailed chinchillas lived throughout the Andes Mountains in Peru, Chile, Bolivia, and Argentina. There has been some uncertainty about whether they still exist in Bolivia and Peru. Historically, in Bolivia, they were found in the La Paz, Oruro, and Potosi regions. The last wild ones were thought to have been caught near Sabaya and Caranga. However, a small group was recently found in Bolivia near the Laguna Colorada basin.
As of 2025, the main confirmed sightings of wild short-tailed Chinchillas are in the Andes Mountains of northern Chile. In Chile, known populations have been seen near places like El Laco and Morro Negro, which are close to the Llullaillaco volcano in the Antofagasta region, and also near the Nevado Tres Cruces National Park in the Atacama region.
Range
Their range covers the relatively barren areas of the Andes Mountains at very high elevations, typically from 9,800 to over 16,000 feet (3,000 to 5,000 meters) above sea level.
Diet
The diet of short-tailed chinchillas is mostly plants. They are herbivores, meaning they eat vegetation. They mainly feed on high-fiber plants found on the mountain sides, such as foliage, leaves, shrubs, seeds, nuts, grasses, herbs, flowers, and grains. Their diet can change depending on what plants are available during different seasons, with the perennial Chilean needle-grass being an important food source. They sometimes eat insects too.
When they eat, they often sit upright and hold their food with their front paws. If there is a lot of food available, pet chinchillas can sometimes eat too much, so owners need to be careful about how much they feed them. Chinchillas also need to chew on things constantly to wear down their teeth, which grow continuously throughout their lives.
History
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Chinchillas were known and kept by the ancient Inca people. Commercial hunting for their fur began in Chile in the 1700s. Short-tailed chinchillas were first brought to the United States in the 1920s by a mining engineer named Mathias F. Chapman. He was given permission by the Chilean government to bring 12 chinchillas to the U.S. He carefully helped the chinchillas get used to their new home over a year, gradually bringing them to a lower altitude and feeding them food similar to what they ate in the wild.
Predators
In their natural habitat, chinchillas are hunted by other animals. Birds like owls and hawks can catch them from the sky. On the ground, animals like snakes, wild cats, and foxes hunt them. In the areas where chinchillas are still found, the Andean fox is a major predator. However, chinchillas are quick and can run up to 15 mph, which helps them escape.
Threats
Human activities also harm chinchilla populations by destroying their homes. Mining operations are a big threat because they can ruin the areas where chinchillas live. For example, finding gold fields in Chile could disrupt chinchilla populations if mining happens there. Cutting down and burning the algarrobilla shrub, which is an important part of their habitat, is another major threat. Since chinchillas are so used to their specific environment, any big, long-lasting changes to it can make it hard for them to survive.
In the past, when people hunted chinchillas for fur, they sometimes used methods that destroyed their burrows, which also killed many animals. These problems have caused the short-tailed chinchilla population to drop by 90% and led to them disappearing from three out of the four countries where they used to live.
Conservation Status
The number of short-tailed chinchillas has decreased by 90% over the years, mainly due to hunting and trapping for the fur trade.
While they are considered regionally extinct in most areas, small groups have been found again in Bolivia, where they are listed as Critically Endangered. In Peru and Argentina, the species is still listed as Critically Endangered or Endangered, rather than Extinct. In Chile, where the main populations are, the species is listed as Endangered overall. Within Chile, they are considered "Extinguished" in the Tarapacá region and "Endangered" in the Antofagasta and Atacama regions.
Conservational efforts
The first law to successfully protect chinchillas by banning hunting was passed in Chile in 1929. However, these laws weren't really enforced effectively until 1983, when the Reserva Nacional Las Chinchillas (Chinchilla National Reserve) was created in Auco, Chile. Efforts to conserve short-tailed chinchillas began in the 1890s in Chile because they were close to disappearing, but these early efforts weren't well-regulated. In 1910, a treaty between Chile, Bolivia, and Peru was the first international attempt to ban hunting and commercial harvesting of chinchillas. Unfortunately, this ban caused the price of skins to go up even more, which led to further decline of the remaining populations.
Today short-tailed Chinchillas are still listed as Critically Endangered by the IUCN (International Union for Conservation of Nature), which is a group that tracks the status of species around the world. Even though commercial hunting has been illegal for about 100 years, the short-tailed chinchilla population has not recovered or spread back to the areas where they used to live. The groups that are left are small and separated, which can lead to problems like reduced genetic diversity (less variety in their genes) and lower overall health, making the species even more at risk of extinction.
However, some individuals from a wild population have been moved to a breeding program to help increase the genetic diversity of chinchillas in captivity. Groups like "Save the Wild Chinchillas" are working to raise awareness about the situation of Short-tailed Chinchillas. To help save the species, more research and surveys are needed to find the locations of other possible populations. If these actions aren't taken, short-tailed chinchillas could face extinction in the near future.
In captivity
Breeding them in captivity for scientific purposes can be challenging, sometimes resulting in a high percentage of individuals that cannot reproduce. There have been some attempts to crossbreed long-tailed and short-tailed chinchillas in captivity, which have resulted in a few hybrid individuals.
Interesting facts about short-tailed chinchillas
- Chinchillas that have been raised as pets are often larger than those living in the wild, sometimes almost twice the size!
- Females are usually a bit bigger than males. Males and females look very similar otherwise, with size being the main difference.
- They can jump across gaps up to six feet wide!
- Their fur is considered one of the softest furs in the world.
- In the wild, short-tailed chinchillas typically live for about 8–10 years. In captivity, with good care, they can live much longer, sometimes up to 15–20 years.
- Sometimes a female who is producing milk might feed the young of another female if that mother is unable to produce enough milk herself.
- Unlike many other rodents, father chinchillas also play a role in caring for the young, sometimes looking after the kits while the mother goes to find food.
- A unique way chinchillas defend themselves is called "fur slip." If a predator grabs a chinchilla, or if a pet chinchilla is held too tightly or is very stressed, they can release clumps of their fur. This leaves the predator with a mouth full of fur, allowing the chinchilla to escape.
- Chinchillas get the water they need from morning dew or from the juicy parts of plants like cacti.
See also
In Spanish: Chinchilla de cola corta para niños
