- Llamas are members of the camel (camelid) family.
- Originating in the Central Plains of North America about 10 million
years ago, the llama predecessors migrated to South America around 2.5
million years ago.
- Life span: about 15 to 29 years
- Weight: 200 to 450 pounds
- Height: 36" to 47" at the shoulder, 5' to 6'5" at the
head
- Average Gestation: 350 days (11.5 months)
- A llama may be solid, spotted, or marked in a wide variety of patterns,
with wool colors ranging from white to black and many shades of gray,
beige, brown, red and roan in between.
- Females are first bred at 16 to 24 months of age.
- Grease-free and lightweight, llama wool is warm and luxurious. A valuable
commodity sought after by fiber artists, such as weavers and spinners,
the wool is a marketable product for llama owners.
- Sure-footed and agile, most llamas are excellent packers and can
carry an average of 80 lbs or 25% of their body weight. Their two-toed
foot with its leathery pad gives the llama a low environmental impact
equivalent to that of a considerate hiker's athletic shoe.
- Their ability to browse lessens their intrusion on the native vegetation,
which is one of the reasons llamas are gaining in popularity with environmentally
conscious users and managers of our public lands.
- Historically llamas have carried packs for man ; however some llamas
have been trained to carry a small child.
- Llamas are modified ruminants with a three-compartment stomach.
- Like cattle and sheep, they chew their cud. Because of a relatively
low protein requirement and an efficient digestive system, they can
be kept on a variety of suitable pastures or hay, with the supplementation
of recommended vitamins, minerals and salt.
- llamas are gentle and curious
- Llamas communicate by humming.
- They also express themselves through a series of ear, body, and tail
postures.
- On rare occasions they will alert their companions and human keepers
with a distinctive alarm call to the presence of unfamiliar dogs or
other creatures which they perceive as threats.
- During breeding males make a distinctive orgling sound.
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