I thought I might share some interesting facts about chinchillas because I frequently run into people who have never even heard of this animal. Some even mistakenly call it a "bunny" or a "rat", but a chinchilla is neither of those.
Here is a picture of Cheech, my chinchilla:
A chinchilla's natural habitat is located in the Andes Mountains in South America:
(map from Wikipedia)
They live in altitudes over 12,000 feet (3657.6 meters) above sea level! There are still some wild chinchillas, and they are a bit different than domesticated ones. They even count as another species, and are more rabbit-looking than domesticated chinchillas. When I did a bit of research about them, I found out that wild chinchillas live in packs much like other animals do.
Sadly, both species of chinchilla are endangered and almost went completely extinct at one point due to the demand for their fur. Help spread the word about endangered species, and consider refraining from buying coats or other things made from real animal fur!