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apiece. However, as early as 1920, hunting and the sale of 

 pelts as well as exportation were prohibited by the Peruvian 

 Government, except under license. There continued to be 

 nevertheless a small amount of illicit trade, but this is now 

 apparently reduced to a minimum, for the animals are too 

 scarce to make the trade remunerative. 



In 1931, William C. Burdett wrote to Dr. Harper, in response 

 to inquiries, that "it is almost impossible to obtain accurate 

 information in regard to the Peruvian chinchilla, since it is 

 practically extinct. No one in this office (American consul- 

 general's) has ever heard of a chinchilla ranch. As far as is 

 known no live chinchillas have been seen in Lima for over 20 

 years. The Peruvian center for the traffic in wild animals and 

 their pelts is Sicuani, a mountain town near Cuzco in southern 

 Peru, and the Indian dealers there report that they have not 

 seen any specimens of chinchilla for many years." 



Formerly "most of the Chilean pelts were purchased by 

 buyers in Coquimbo," and some statistics from the customs 

 office of that city presented by Bidlingmaier (1937) are inter- 

 esting. It seems that in 1905 the quantity sold amounted to 

 18,153 dozen valued at from $100 to $110 (? per dozen). In 

 the following year the number sold was about half that figure, 

 and in 1907 it was again reduced to half that of 1906. In 1909 

 it had dropped to 2,328 dozen, and the price had risen to $400 

 to $500. European markets instruct their agents "to purchase 



Peruvian chinchilla (Chinchilla lanigera brevicaudata) 



