Llamas are a species that can be seen in greater numbers in Latin American countries, in Peru for example, they predominate in Machu Picchu, a tourist site much visited by people from all over the world. A little more will be known about this species that will be found there by seeing the flame characteristics which will be mentioned here.
Calls
This species of scientific name Lama glama belongs to the family Camelidae, of order Artiodactyla which in turn is part of the class mammalia, Yarn: Chordata of the kingdom Animals. El animal flame (domestic) is a subspecies called lama glama glama, while there are two other subspecies of the guanaco which are the Peruvian guanaco (lama glama cacsilensis) and the southern guanaco (lama glama guanicoe) which are not domesticated animals.
There is even a third species that is a hybrid between a peruvian llama and an Arabian camel, it is called "cama" and has some similarities in terms of the characteristics of the llama physically, but this species is not as used as a pack animal as llamas and its wool does not seem to be as useful for the textile industry .
The llama was domesticated by the Andean indigenous people of Argentina, Bolivia, Chile, Colombia, Ecuador and Peru. Currently it is possible to find it as a species that is part of the fauna of the Puna, which is an ecoregion that extends exactly through the countries mentioned, the Flora of the Puna It is very varied, so it is ideal for the three species mentioned to inhabit without problem.
A historical fact before talking about the characteristics of the llama is that this species, in addition to being domesticated by the indigenous people, was sacrificed for the symbolic value it had for these ethnic groups. This was discovered in some studies that discovered bones of this species in what would be sacrificial tables in Machu Picchu - Peru.
Features
Some characteristics of the flame will be explained in the following list:
- The shape of his face is narrow, two teeth protrude from his mouth (the incisors of the lower part of the teeth) of the 32 they have, with his two ears on his head, which are a little long, round and a little tilted towards the center.
- Their skull is a bit similar to that of camels, however, llamas have a larger brain cavity and the crests are smaller, meanwhile the nasal bones are smaller and wider than those of camels. This is one of the characteristics of the llama that has allowed biologists to relate these two species.
- Of the characteristics of the llama, its thin and long neck is what most identifies it, it may seem a bit thick, but it is its wool that gives it much more volume.
- This species has four legs with two uncovered hooves on each one, on the soles of their legs they have a thick pad that allows them to withstand long walks with a kiss on them.
- Their fur is quite thick, much thicker than that of sheep, and it can be white or have greyish, brown or light brown tones, many of them have white and yellow spots, which would be the most common colors, but in reality there is a great variety of colors in their fur.
- Llamas can measure approximately 1,8 meters and weigh between 130 and 200 kilos.
- As for the life expectancy of the llamas, they live on average 15 or 20 years if they are cared for correctly, they can withstand a relatively long life of load because they have the strength to do so, they can even spend days without drinking water and walking long distances . In all that time they can be used to carry loads of 25 to 59 kilos, their life span will depend entirely on their caregivers.
Behavior
They were domesticated a long time ago by the indigenous peoples of the Andean regions, something that apparently was a bit simple considering that llamas are quick to learn certain tasks. They do not have the same aggressive behavior as the other two species of guanacos mentioned, although the latter do not really usually attack people directly as predators. They are quite social animals that are kept in packs.
Such early domestication prevented their social structure from being observed in the wild, but it is estimated that they lived in groups of at least 20 individuals. Currently these animals are quite docile and even shy when people approach them, however, this behavior does not prevent them from being aggressive when they feel that they are in danger next to a person or another animal, nor when it comes to defending their young or their territory.
One of the best known characteristics of the llama is its apparent bad mood when people put too much weight on them, in that situation they begin to kick, bite or spit until the excess load is removed, it can be seen as behavior Mild aggressive since when they are fighting for their territory or when they feel a threat, they show much more aggressiveness.
The llamas have a communication that is based on sounds, with which they usually express many emotions such as sadness, fun or satisfaction when they are in the sexual act, they also emit various sounds as a warning when they feel in danger. This can be seen when they are around their natural predators, cougars, ocelots, coyotes, and of course, humans.
Food
Regarding the diet of these animals, it is necessary to start by saying that they are herbivores, so their diet is based on eating herbs, lichens, plant shoots, bushes, leaves, etc. All this is easy to find in the mountains where they spend their whole lives.
Having a certain relationship with camels, this species needs to drink water frequently, so they stay close to bodies of water from which they can drink. They usually drink more than three liters of water, the rest they acquire from the humidity of the plants they find in the Flora of their habitats.
The youngest llamas usually have a somewhat varied diet, with which they try various species of the plantae kingdom, however, as they grow they seem to prefer grasses that are soft and hard alike, an example would be Ichu, that is than a fairly hard straw that can be found throughout the highlands of the Andes. Another example can be the paco, which is located by the llamas in the aguajales.
The way in which they ingest food is typical of ruminant species, which regurgitate food so that it can be properly crushed and then digested properly. This is why they have no problem eating hard grasses all day and that is that their entire day is focused on grazing throughout the day in order to feed themselves correctly and reach the appropriate weight thanks to the nutrients ingested.
Reproduction
Firstly, one of the characteristics of the llama that is related to its sexual maturity should be mentioned, and that is that the females of this species reach it when they are already one year old, while the males take a little longer and begin to mate when they are three years old. years.
The time they prefer to mate is when summer is ending and autumn is beginning, which can be between November and May. The courtship process is not really long like that of other species and when they are mating they do it lying down, taking a little less than 45 minutes.
As for the gestation period of the llamas, this can last a year or only 11 months, after that the mother can only give birth to one calf each time she mates (the birth lasts half an hour) and usually keeps her with her for many years, although their lactation period itself lasts approximately four months. One of the characteristics of the llama is that they can start walking an hour after their birth, even if you weigh only 10 kilos, which is the average weight of llama babies.
When the young are going to be born, the llamas usually group together to protect them from predators and males that may attack them, generally this occurs between the hours of morning and noon, which would be the warmest hours ideal for births, already at night. They give the young as much heat as possible to prevent them from dying of hypothermia, taking into account that they are usually in places with high altitudes.
Baby llamas feed mainly on their mothers' milk, which has a sufficient amount of fat and salt (amounts that should be low), as well as high amounts of calcium and phosphorus that allow their development to be healthy. This composition of llama milk differs markedly from that of other species such as goats or cows, however, llamas only produce approximately 60 milliliters of milk, while cows produce a little more.
Habitat
Llamas usually live in regions with high altitude, for example, at 4000 meters above sea level, which is one of the values in altitude that the Andean mountains of South America have, where the climate can be temperate, dry or arid. These regions are located in the countries mentioned above: Argentina, Bolivia, Chile, Ecuador and Peru, these are the main places where tourists who want to know this species usually go.
But in addition to those nations, llamas can be found in national parks in Colombia, Venezuela, Canada, the United States, Australia and in various regions of Europe, however, a large part of the total population of llamas lives in South America. Its habitat is related to the composition of its body, which is characterized by a high amount of hemoglobin and the oval shape of red blood cells, these characteristics of the llama allow it to take better advantage of oxygen.
Threats and relationship with humans
Unlike other species found on the list of Endangered animals in the world, llamas are not in great danger and are not included in the lists of threatened or protected animals. This is something positive, although it is not a large number of copies that exist today. It is estimated that there are three million and a little more of these animals in the world, almost all of them in South America.
This is an animal that can be considered domestic, because many people keep them in their territories and take care of them. Just as there are other species that coexist with humans and that is why they are not in real danger, the truth is that this coexistence generally has a benefit for people and that is why they take care of these species, an example of them are horses and donkeys. Something ironic considering that many ecosystems provide more benefits and are destroyed just the same.
An example of the coexistence of llamas with humans is the relationship that is observed in some Latin American countries such as Argentina, Chile, Bolivia, Ecuador and Peru especially. In Bolivia and Peru the llama was part of the national coats of arms being a patriotic symbol, in Bolivia it still appears, in Peru it stopped doing so in 1825.
In this last country, llamas, in addition to being pack animals, are part of the landscapes that are visited by tourists, which is why they are, to a certain extent, tourist attractions. They are also used as food, their wool is used for the textile industry in the manufacture of coats and other garments, giving every couple of years at least 3 kilos of fiber, their intestines function as leather with which musical instrument strings and linings are made. of drums, their dry manure works as fuel.
Decades ago, llamas began to be appreciated by humans for their usefulness as pack animals, for their meat and wool, in fact, they have replaced other species that have also been used as pack animals, such as horses, donkeys and oxen, as well as replaced other species that also had their wool and meat cut, such as sheep and goats.
But this replacement was only seen in the Andean regions where this species predominated, although it was distributed elsewhere there are regions that still prefer horses to use them as pack animals, mistreat them to mark them as cattle or kill them to eat their meat. Despite this "appreciation", the population of the llamas was reduced after the conquest, as were the indigenous populations.