About Llamas

Lama is the closest relative of the camel. At least she looks like him. Their main difference is, perhaps, in the absence of humps. Of the three species of llamas, only guanaco is among the wild. The rest of their species are used by humans as pets. The homeland of llamas is considered South America. Until the introduction of horses on this continent, the local population used llamas as a pulling labor. An adult male can easily transport up to fifty kilograms of cargo, over a distance of more than twenty kilometers. Females are not used for this. Llamas are quite large animals. The body length of an adult reaches two meters, with a weight of 80 kilograms. Like camels, llamas can get angry and spit on the offender. Llama's coat is much appreciated. It is incredibly thick and soft. Its color can be completely different, from white to brown. To obtain wool on farms, a special kind of llamas, called alpacas, is bred. Most of these farms are located in Peru, Chile and Bolivia. Currently, the approximate number of these animals is three million individuals. Valuable wool is obtained by cutting llamas. This operation is carried out every two years. From one animal you can get up to a kilogram of wool. She goes to make warm sweaters, blankets, plaids. Alpaca is the smallest member of the llama family. She is no more than a meter high and weighs up to 70 kilograms. The coat of these animals is unusually soft, long and light. Llamas are among the herbivores. They feed on grass, hay, young branches of trees and shrubs, leaves. As for alpacas, they have no front teeth. They pinch the grass with their lips and chew on their teeth located on the side. Llamas are unusually fast animals. They can run at a speed of 60 km / h. Due to this, they are saved from predators. Llamas live in small groups of several dozen individuals. The dominant role here is played by the strongest male. He expels all young males, one year old, from the herd. For him, they are competitors. Subsequently, the males form bachelor herds, or live as hermits. In the mating season, fierce battles arise between males for the right to mate with a female. They beat each other with their feet, bite with their teeth, spit. The female pregnancy lasts 11 months. She gives birth to only one baby, whom she feeds with milk for four months.

The domestic llama animal is very calm. There are practically no problems with them. They eat little, the conditions of detention are the simplest. But as a worker, especially for the transportation of luggage in the mountains, it has no equal. It will easily pass where even a person is difficult to move around, and even with a load.

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Transportation of goods in the mountains of Bolivia, where there are no roads, but only mountain trails, is carried out only with the help of llamas. These animals are loaded with luggage and collected from them whole caravans that go along these almost impassable paths and carry on themselves everything that people from mountain villages need.

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In the mountains, for the army, such animals as a donkey or a mule are simply not replaceable. Well, in the countries of South America, this role is played by llamas. They, as befits the military, are on the contentment, they are trained, fed, when they need to be treated and of course exploited in full.

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There are almost no wild llamas in nature. In most countries of South America they are bred in special nurseries. There are excellent conditions for them and a lot of food. So they only benefited from this.

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Who visited the Andes in the Lost city of the Incas, could see that in its vicinity lamas walk freely. Five thousand years ago, the ancient Incas tamed them and began to use them as pack sex animals, and since then the llamas have served faithfully to man.

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Llamas have been living in Argentinean Patagonia for an incredibly long time. And just as long ago, locals have been using them as packs to carry heavy loads. Each llama carries a load of about 50 kilograms, and it’s absolutely off-road, often along narrow mountain paths.

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Usually the llamas are quite quiet animals and the neighing they make resembles the bleating of a sheep. But when they are unhappy with something, or want to attract attention to themselves, their usually quiet neighing turns into a heart-rending cry that the human ear cannot always sustain.

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Usually, llamas rarely echo each other. Their voice is somewhat reminiscent of the bleating of a sheep. But sometimes, being close to each other, the male and the female, almost leaning head to head, seem to whisper to each other. At this time, it is better not to approach them, the male can be quite aggressive.