Social History and Domestication

The domestication of the chinchilla began with the Chincha Indians. They lived in an environment that chinchillas naturally inhabited, and they kept some trapped chinchillas to breed in captivity. In 1923, a man named Matthias F. Chapman imported a select few chinchillas into the United States, every pet chinchilla in the US today is a descendant of that herd. Prior to this, chinchillas were not recorded to have been exported from their natural habitat. Ranches that farmed chinchillas were first seen in Chile in the late 19^th century, and later in both Chile and Peru. The pelts of chinchillas at the time had very little value, causing the ranches to be overall unsuccessful. American ranches began to appear, and created a larger market. Women in America and Europe found chinchilla fur even more desirable than the other furs that were common at the time, causing chinchilla fur to become very highly valued in those locations. Chinchillas were valued mainly for their fur in history and only relatively recently became valued as companion animals.

http://www.edchinchillas.co.uk/The_Chin/Domestication.html

http://www.paw-talk.net/forums/f19/the-history-of-domestic-chinchillas-9236.html