Chinchilla at Machu Picchu, Peru Postcard

A chinchilla rests in a niche at Machu Picchu in Peru. I saw this chinchilla in this same spot two days in a row. He can safely view the horde of tourists from his perch in the Incan wall. Chinchillas are native to the Andes mountains in South America. Hunted for their very soft fur, they are now critically endangered in the wild. Machu Picchu was built around 1450, at the height of the Inca Empire and was abandoned in 1572. This citadel is probably the most familiar icon of Inca civilization. Although the Machu Picchu citadel is only about 50 miles (80 kilometers) from Cusco, the Inca capital, the Spanish never found it and consequently did not plunder or destroy it, as they did many other sites. After Machu Picchu was abandoned, the surrounding jungle grew over the site, and few knew of its existence. American historian Hiram Bingham brought international attention to the site in 1911. The National Geographic Society devoted its entire April 1913 issue to Machu Picchu. Archaeologists have theorized that Machu Picchu was an estate of the Inca emperor Pachacuti. In 1983 UNESCO designated Machu Picchu a World Heritage Site, describing it as "an absolute masterpiece of architecture and a unique testimony to the Inca civilization." In 2007, Machu Picchu was voted one of the New Seven Wonders of the World in a worldwide Internet poll. In 1981 Peru declared an area of 325.92 square kilometres (125.84 sq mi) surrounding Machu Picchu as a "Historical Sanctuary." It's a very popular tourist destination, but because of the pressure of it being loved to death, tourist numbers are limited each day. The peak shown is Huayna Picchu ("new peak" in the Quechua language). The Incas built a trail up the side of the Huayna Picchu and built temples and terraces on its top. Machu Picchu means "old peak." The site is named after Machu Picchu mountain.