llama

llama, (Lama glama), domesticated livestock species, descendant of the guanaco (Lama guanicoe), and one of the South American members of the camel family, Camelidae (order Artiodactyla). The llama is primarily a pack animal, but it is also used as a source of food, wool, hides, tallow for candles, and dried dung for fuel. Llama herds are found primarily in Bolivia, Peru, Colombia, Ecuador, Chile, and Argentina, and they have been exported to other countries.

Natural history

Llamas, guanacos, vicuñas (Vicugna vicugna), and alpacas (V. pacos) are known collectively as lamoids. Unlike camels, llamas and other lamoids do not have the characteristic camel humps; they are slender-bodied animals and have long legs and long necks, short tails, small heads, and large pointed ears. Gregarious animals, they graze on grass and other plants. When annoyed, they spit. Lamoids are able to interbreed with one another and produce fertile offspring.

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The llama is the largest of the four lamoid species. It averages 120 cm (47 inches) at the shoulder, with most males weighing between 136 and 181.4 kg (300 and 400 pounds) and most females weighing between 104.3 and 158.7 kg (230 and 350 pounds). A 113-kg (250-pound) llama can carry a load of 45–60 kg and average 25 to 30 km (15 to 20 miles) travel a day. The llama’s high thirst tolerance, endurance, and ability to subsist on a wide variety of forage makes it an important transport animal on the bleak Andean plateaus and mountains. The llama is a gentle animal, but, when overloaded or maltreated, it will lie down, hiss, spit and kick, and refuse to move. Llamas breed in the (Southern Hemispheric) late summer and fall, from November to May. The gestation period lasts about 11 months, and the female gives birth to one young. Although usually white, the llama may be solid black or brown, or it may be white with black or brown markings.

The llama and the alpaca are domestic animals not known to exist in the wild state. Genetic studies conducted in the early 21st century determined that llamas are descended from guanacos and alpacas are descended from vicuñas. Llamas appear to have been bred from guanacos and used as beasts of burden starting about 6,500 years ago. Most taxonomies separate llamas and guanacos into distinct species, with some authorities preferring to classify both animals as subspecies of Lama glama.

Llama fleece

Llamas are normally sheared every two years, each yielding about 3–3.5 kg (6.6–7.7 pounds) of fibre. Llama fleece consists of the coarse guard hairs of the protective outer coat (about 20 percent) and the short crimped (wavy) fibre of the insulating undercoat. The coarse fleece is inferior to the wool of the alpaca. The hair’s colour is usually variegated, generally in shades of brown, although there are some pure blacks and whites. Cleaning reduces the final yield of fleece to about 66–84 percent of the original weight. Individual locks of hair appear wavy; the fairly downy fibres have about two to four crimps per centimetre, but the coarse hairs are fairly straight. The hair’s length ranges from 8 to 25 cm (about 3.2 to 9.8 inches), the coarse hairs being longest. The difference in diameter between the coarse guard hairs and the downy fibre is not so great as it is in cashmere. Guard-hair diameter ranges from about 10 to 150 micrometres (a micrometre is about 0.00004 inch), with that of the undercoat fibre usually ranging from 10 to 20 micrometres.

The scales of the outer layer of the fibre are indistinct, and the cortical layer contains pigment, with variations in the amount and distribution, which produces the various colours and tones. All but the finest fibres are likely to possess a hollow central core, or medulla, resulting in low density, which makes the fibre fairly light in weight. Llama fibre is used, alone or in blends, for knitwear and for woven fabrics made into outerwear. It is used locally for rugs, rope, and fabric.