About Chinchillas
 Chinchillas are small nocturnal rodents from the Andes Mountains of South America. They live in small colonies taking shelter among crevices in rocks and surviving on the sparse vegetation and limited rainfall of the area.
It is thought that their name literally means "Little Chincha" after the Chincha people who lived in the Andes. Chinchillas were always prized for their dense and incredibly soft fur, but European demand in the 19th century caused the chinchilla to be hunted to near extinction. In fact, the wild chinchilla remains on the endangered species list.
In 1923, a U.S. mining engineer working in Chile, Mathias F. Chapman, brought eleven wild chinchillas he had captured to the U.S. for breeding. You can read the fascinating story of M.F. Chapman here. If you visit our Chinchilla Museum here at the ranch, you can view the actual crate Mr. Chapman used to transport these historic little chinchillas.
An entire industry developed around the commercial breeding of chinchillas for their fur. Chinchilla ranches and chinchilla farms, both large and small, worked not only at breeding as many chinchillas as possible, but also, by careful selective breeding, at improving fur quality. As a result, today's domestically raised chinchillas look very little like their wild cousins.
 
In recent years, no doubt partly fueled by the Internet, there has been an explosion in the interest in chinchillas as pets. More and more people are discovering that chinchillas (or "chins" as they are affectionately called) make wonderful pets. This phenomenon has had substantial impact on the U.S. chinchilla industry.
For example, industry organizations such as ECBC (Empress Chinchilla Breeders Cooperative) which used to strongly oppose the ownership of pet chinchillas now invite pet owners to become members. Also, more and more pet owners are becoming very knowledgeable about chinchilla genetics and breeding quality animals. It is no longer uncommon to see chinchillas from a hobby breeder at a prestigious chinchilla show.
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