8 October 2012

Llamas and alpacas, Peru

In my imagination, llamas were brown, maybe white, but certainly not black and long-haired – what a shock!

Did you know? Adult llamas are about the height of a human being, weigh twice as more, and live for about twenty years. Alpacas on the other hand, are twice as small as llamas, and are bred for their fibre and their meat, while llamas are bred for their wool and for carrying stuff (I haven't seen llama meat on menus though). Llamas and alpacas are from the same family as camels ("camelids"), but as you had guessed, they have no humps on their back – and they're mostly found in South America.

And yes, llamas do spit, especially when irritated or not correctly reared. Don't try them as I have seen tourists do, at their expense!

The alpaca is the last photo in this series. And like the llama which happily yawns, I wish you goodnight.