For your information

So about a year ago or something I remember telling some of you (definately Dave was involved in it) that llamas were a type of alpaca. How wrong I was and therefore I want to share the truth so that you all know better.

So the Llama (Llama glama - hehe) looks like this...



It is the most common and strongest among the Andean cameloids, it is generally used as pack animal, and it can carry a weight of about 40 kg. (88 lb.) in long journeys and up to 60 kg. (133 lb.) in short ones, at a rate of 26 Km. per day over rugged mountain terrain at an elevation of 5000 meters. If the load is too heavy, llamas will simply lay down or turn around and spit on the owner. Their bodies are able to make the most of the small amount of oxygen available in the high mountains, due to the unique nature of their oxygen-carrying red blood cells which have a very long life span.

They were probably domesticated around 3000 BC from their wild relative, the guanaco (see below). It has a slender shape and elongated legs, neck and face and can reach a max. height of 1.9 m.
From my personal observations it also has upright ears and eats with its head held high.


So the alpaca....


I took this pic in Peru.. I think this alpaca was pretty grumpy.
This is the other domesticated cameloid of South America. It has a smaller (max. height of 1.5 m) and more curved (fat) silhouette than the llama. Generally it has more and better fiber than llamas so this is used to make tons of jumpers, scarves and hats. Also it is popular to eat... "really sweet sweet sweet lamb" (Tim Smith; personal communication, 2006)


OK now, so the vicuña.



The vicuña is a member of the camel family. It is the smallest (max. height of 1.3 m) of the six species of camel (4 from the Andes), and is thought to be the wild ancestor of the alpaca.
The lower teeth of the vicuña grow constantly, like a rodent's, so they can eat the tough grasses. The vicuña also walks on the soles of its feet so it can flex its toes and grab on to the rocks and gravel-covered slopes.

In modern times they were almost wiped out for their meat and wool(its fiber is the finest among all the animal fibers). By 1960 there were only 6,000 vicuñas left in the wild. Now there are about 125,000 vicuñas, but they are still listed as threatened.


And lastly the guanaco.


It has a similar silhouette to that of a llama, it has a max. height of 1.80 m. It lives in a complete wild state.


So in summary. 6 cameloids, 4 from South America, 2 domesicated (llama and alpaca) 2 wild (vicuña and guanaco). The llama was domesticated from the guanaco and the alpaca from the vicuña.
So don't say i never give you anything!