Viscachas on the Rocks: Encounters with Chile’s Chillest Mammal

Attitude at altitude

Mountain viscacha, Lauca National Park, Chile. © Bronwen Scott

We were 4,500 metres (14,760 feet) above sea level in the Chilean Andes, looking at llareta (Azorella compacta, family Apiaceae). This strange plant forms hard green billows in the puna grassland. It grows slowly. Some individuals had germinated centuries ago; others had been there for millennia. I was head down over one plant, trying…