THE SACRED ANDEAN RABBIT.

The Andean rabbit of the family Chinchillidae is in the Rodentia Order and consists of the Chinchillas, the Vizcachas, and their fossil relatives. This family is restricted to Southern and Western South America, mostly living in mountainous regions of the Andes but just one species living on plains. They are medium to large-sized rodents, weighing from 800g to 8 kg / 28oz to 18lb, with strong hind legs and large ears, bushy tail, and thick, soft fur.
Chinchillas are 2 species of crepuscular (activity during twilight) rodents, slightly larger and more robust than ground squirrels. They live in colonies called herds at high elevations (4,270m/14,000ft). Historically, chinchillas lived in an area that included parts of Bolivia, Peru, Argentina, and Chile, but today colonies in the wild are known only in the Peruvian/Chilean Andean mountains.
Chinchilla, whose name literally means "clay," has the 2nd-densest fur of land mammals, exceeded only by the sea otter, and is named after the Chincha people who once wore its dense, velvet-like fur.
Chincha culture were prominent as sea-going traders and lived in one of the largest and fertile oasis Valley on Pacific Ocean coast of Peru. The Valley is about 220km/140mi South of Lima, Peru. The surrounding desert is virtually rainless but the Chincha River flowing down from the Andes waters an extensive Valley in the shape of a triangle about 25km/16mi North to South along the coast and extending about 20km/12mi inland. Today 22,000 hectares/54,000 acres of land is cultivated. The Pisco River Valley is located 25km/16mi South and is of similar size.
Human beings have lived along the Peruvian coast for at least 10,000 years. Irrigation agriculture in River Valleys developed later. The first settled communities known in Chincha Valley date from about 800 BC. The Chincha ruin of "Centinel"was one of the 1st archaeological sites in Peru to be investigated by archaeologists. The site covers more than 75 hectares/190 acres and consists of 2 large pyramids, the Centinela (Guardian) and Tambo of Mora, and other smaller ones, constructed of adobe bricks with adobe walls decorated with a material made by fusing powdered glass to a substrate by firing. Also a black/red on white geometric painting can be seen within the principal Incas building.
The places served as habitations to the leaders of the Chincha people. The surrounded area housed artisans of silver, textiles, wood, and ceramics, and the main purpose of Centinela (Guardian)was ceremonial. Centinela (Guardian) also was the Inca capital of the kingdom of Chincha, and one of the very few places where the Incas incorporated a major state installation into a pre-existing, and still functioning non-Inca capital. The Chincha people maintained trade routes by land with their domesticated camelids reaching the Collao (High Plain) and Cuzco. They also learned seafaring skills from the Pre-Chincha people, allowing them to have extensive maritime trade and travelled as far as central America by raft.  The ruler controlled 100,000 sea-going rafts illustrating the importance of Chincha and their trade. Voyages up and down the Pacific coast from Southern Colombia to Northern Chile, possibly as far as Mexico, were a long-standing practice gaining influence and control of the trade and whose location near the Inca homeland in the highlands made Chincha a convenient spot. In 1958, a system of straight roads emanating from the Centinel were discovered, suggesting a highly centralized pre-Inca administration. The place is surrounded by irrigated agricultural land, proving that the residents of Centinel exploited plant, animal and marine resources.
The Chincha people gave their name to the Chinchaysuyo Region, the NorthWestern provincial area of the Tahuantinsuyo (the land of the 4 quarters), the most populous quarter and the largest division of the empire. It encompassed the former lands of the Chimu empire and much of the Northern Andes. Chinchay in Quechua means "jaguar" and also meansd the cardinal point North. Before the Inca Civil War began, Atahualpa, son of the deceased Inca Emperor Huayna Capac, inherited and ruled the majority of Chinchaysuyo from his capital city in Quito. The 12th Inca, Huayna Capac, knowing that he was about to die, gave orders to place his heart and organs in an "Urn" and have it buried in Quito, the city he loved. Moreover, Huayna Capac gave instructions that his mummified body should be transported to Cuzco for burial beside the mummified bodies of his royal ancestors. The eldest son of Huayna Capac, the Emperor Huascar, ruled the Inca Empire from Cuzco and was displeased that Atahualpa crowned himself as Emperor in Quito.
With the arrival of the Europeans, the population of Chincha declined precipitously, mostly due to European diseases and political turmoil because of the greed for gold and silver. Demographers have estimated a 99 percvent decline in population in the first 85 years of European rule. Chincha never regained its earlier prominence.
For people in the highlands, the Andean rabbit symbolize the transformative cycle of life, death, and rebirth.