About Raising Chinchillas

The chinchilla is a rodent from the Northern Argentina, Chile, Bolivia and southern Peru. That area has been wild until late last century when the indiscriminate manhunt ended with the wild species.

Today, this small species Argentina exists thanks to the emergence of breeders that allows them to reproduce in captivity. Thanks to intensive breeding and genetic improvement, farmed skins from nowadays are so different from the wild old's. If we compare, we would believe that we are looking at two different species.

Chinchilla fur is the most valued in the world for the fur market. It is the lightest, silky, thick and smooth. In our country, the industry appears in the early 60's and since that time, it has had a remarkable growth.

Today in 2016, Argentina has become a world leader in this export industry. While growth has been important from the beginning, we can say that in 10 years (1995-2005) the global economic situation has provided so favorable for the expansion of this industry that became even more attractive circumstances.

- Example: As a result of new environmental currents that caused the prohibition of indiscriminate hunting of wild animals in danger of extinction, furriers stopped working with the skins and turned all their purchases towards farmed fur bearers. Within the scope of exotic and expensive furs, chinchilla was head to head with white polar bear and the Marta Sibelina (among others). Polar Bear skins were no longer produced in order to protect endangered species meanwhile the Marta Sibelina suffered a terrible falling of prices when Russia entered the capitalist world, it flooded the market with these skins. The chinchilla became the most coveted and expensive skin from  the exotics.

Since 1996 all fashion houses  with highest prestige in the finished fur garments, ended the parades with chinchilla fur. During the period 1994-1996 US lead the world production followed by Canada, Germany and Argentina. As for quality, US was the undisputed leader followed by Canada, Argentina and Germany.

By 1996-1998 Germany distracts an enormous amount of their production of skins to the market or pets that makes a boom in Western Europe. In Canada and the US  production costs got notoriously expensive due to the high cost of labor, the value of cereals and tannery costs (in Argentina tanning a skin costs $ s 1.5 dollars meanwhile in developed countries like Denmark or Germany costs go up between $ 8 and $ s s 9 each despite being of equal quality.

The rising prices of skins produced by the increase in demand was accompanied unfortunately in those countries because a substantial increase in production cost. Producing a skin in Argentina in 1998 had an estimated cost of u $ s 10 per skin, the 2000's u $ s 14 and in 2007 u $ s 7 while in the US rose to $ s 24 and Canada au $ s 22. This caused the growth of the industry in South America (with Argentina at the top) to be much higher than in the Nordic countries.

For 2016 all analysts on the subject presented Argentina as one of the world's largest producers of chinchilla fur with a production of around 50,000 skins per year. Along with Argentina and Brazil (with a rapid growth too) are at the head of world production Eastern European countries such as Croatia, Czech Republic, Poland and Hungary. None of these cases(not even Brazil) achieved the quality we have in Argentina. However, there is top quality in countries like US , Canada, Finland etc. etc.

Global demand for these skins of good quality is so big and with so small offer that those who have quality skins of chinchillas have a heritage of immense value.

As for quality, it can be said that in the year 2007, Argentina, with Chinchillas Eldorado at the head, has several of the best cabins in the world, therefore the leadership is full of both quantity and quality.

Today Argentina, counting the serious breeders who work with quality, grouped and protected by A.A.C.Ch (Argentina Chinchillas Breeders Association) exported all domestic production. The economic movement of this project can be summarized as follows. Minimum care, low maintenance costs, without great infrastructure and facilities expenses, no employees, soaring sales value of the final product (the skin) for exporting with a fully insured international market.

By El Dorado Chinchilla