Keith Lang, age 7, of Guntersville, Alabama, for his question:

What is a vicuna?

You know about the stately llama, who lives down in South America. He looks somewhat like a donkey sized camel without the camel type hump on his back. Well, the vicuna is one of the llama's smaller cousins. He has the same long neck and the same haughty expression. The llama's shaggy coat is as soft as silk, but the vicuna's coat is even softer and silkier. In ancient days, the vicuna was treasured by the famous Incas of Peru. His long silky hair was used to weave cloth for the royal Inca himself. Nobody else was allowed to wear this soft warm cloth and any person who dared to harm a vicuna was executed. Nowadays, anybody with enough money can wear vicuna cloth    though there is not much to be bought and the price is very, very high.