Chinchillas are a type of crepuscular rodent, a little bit bigger than a ground squirrel. They live in the Andes mountains in South America, and live in groups called herds at elevations up to 14,000 ft. A long time ago chinchillas lived in Bolivia, Peru, Argentina, and Chile. Chinchillas are named after the Chincha people , who lived in the Andes mountains.  They once wore it’s velvet like fur. Then chinchillas became rare due to hunting for their ultra soft fur. Most chinchillas were used for clothes and other accessories. Both chinchilla species are critically endangered by the  IUCN Red list due to severe population loss. 90% was lost in the past 15 years. Since then humans were no longer able to hunt chinchillas anymore. By 2006 they were listed as ” Threatened ” and in 2011 they became “Critically Endangered. “Please help these fluffy adorable little guys. They need it.