Photo by javier_aznar_photography | In the highlands of Ecuador live one of the most emblematic mammals of the Andes, the vicuña. This herbivore has adapted to the region’s high altitude, serving as important seed dispersers in the nutrient cycle and, through its dung, fertilizers of soil. Its population is now stable in Ecuador, but in the past, it had disappeared from the wild and was reintroduced with animals from Peru, Bolivia, and Chile. The vicuña belongs to the same genus as the alpaca, but the former is still wild while the latter has been domesticated. Follow me javier_aznar_photography for more images and stories about Ecuador. #ecuador #vicuna #wildlife