Chinchilla History (haha, i was curious... so went to look up... interesting)

In 1918 a gentleman by the name of M.F. Chapman was working in Chile and saw his first chinchilla. This individual is responsible for bringing these furry little creatures to the United States. About a year after he had his first encounter with them, he gathered a trapping party of 23 men to capture as many chinchillas as possible; however, they were so scarce(almost to the point of extinction) because of excessive trapping for their pelts, that they were only able to capture 11 and this took them 3 years. It took 12 months to bring these down the mountain of Chile. They took every precaution necessary so they would not lose any to the temperature changes they encountered on the way down. It paid off being so careful, as they all survived. By the middle of the 1960's, thousands of chins were being raised throughout the United States and Canada.

Chinchilla means "little chinta" a name given by the Indian tribes in their area. The chinchilla is from South America, more specifically in the countries of Argentina, Bolivia, Peru, and Chile in the high altitudes of the Andes Mountains. Their scientific name is Chinchilla lanigera, which means long-tailed chinchilla. Their class is Mammalia (Mammals), their order Rodentia (Rodents), and their family is called the Chinchillidae (Chinchillas and Visachas).

don't worry, they're not from the Chin genealogy... haha. from Chile.... Relax.