This Llama doesn't do much. It just eats, walks around, and sleeps. But I'll tell you some facts about them. When they stand they are 110 cm to 120 cm at the shoulder. They have slender bodies, long limbs, and necks. Their fur color is mostly dark cinnamon, light brown, and white. Their fur can be long, thick and wooly, especially along the flanks, chest, and thighs. At birth, lamas can weigh 20 to 30 pounds, and an adult they can weigh 280 to 450 pounds. These lamas can run to speeds up to 56 Kilometers per hour.

 

This is where Guanacos are found in Southern Peru down the Andean Zone of Chile and Argentina to Tierra del Fuego, and Navarino Island; however, some of these lamas live in western Paraguay. They live well in these ecosystems because they inhabit grasslands and scrublands. They are usually at 4,000 meters above sea level. There used to be over 100,000 lamas in the USA and Canada. The numbers of guanacos have been drastically reduced due to humans. In addition, the climates also reduced the number of guanacos. One last reason is that pumas eat the young lamas.

  

Guanacos are all herbivores, which means that they all eat plants or vegetables. They are versatile foragers. One thing that allows them to compete for food is their speed. The most common food that they eat is shrubs and grasses.

 

The llama's predator is the puma. The puma is extremely dangerous to lamas, especially to the young ones. The pumas always go for the babies, because they are very vulnerable because of their age. At adult age the lamas are fast. They go up to 56km/hr. Their speed helps them keep from being eaten. They also learn fighting abilities in herds like all-male bands.

 

Guanacos are herbivores that can inhabit dry areas and forego drinking for long periods. They are versatile foragers, both browsing, and grazing on grasses and plants. Guanacos have long been hunted for their meat and fur. They are believed to be the ancestor to the now domesticated llamas and alpacas, which are important as beasts of burden and for their fur. There are three types of social groups that the lamas are separated in: family groups, male troops, and solitary males. I learned a lot about these animals and that they are interesting creatures.

 

Author: Jonathan M

Published: 02/2009

 

Sources: Sorin, A. 2002. "Lama guanaco" (On-line), Animal Diversity Web. http://animaldiversity.ummz.umich.edu/site/accounts/information/Lama_guanicoe.html. Anna Bess Sorin (author), University of Michigan Redford, K.H. and J.F. Eisenberg. 1992. Mammals of the Neotropics. University of Chicago Press: Chicago. Nowak, R.M. and J.L.Paradiso. 1983. Walker's Mammals of the World 4th Ed. Johns Hopkins University Press: Baltimore.

 

Photo Credits: http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Arg20080406.20.jpg