The Camel Species of the Western Hemisphere
It's a well-known fact that everyone loves llamas. They feature as default messageboard avatars, in the credits of Winamp, in that sketch with the pirates and the llama vs Streetfighter routine, everywhere. Llamas have become something of a popculture icon in modern times. Maybe because they have that haughty expression of a camel, but without the reputation for gobbing in your face, maybe it's because they're the only animal to start with a double L, or maybe its because their latin name is Llama glama, which sounds like a zoo industry fashion magazine.
But how much do you really know about this lovely beast and its close relatives the three other South American camel species: the alpaca, guanaco and vicuna.
Can you match the name to the face even?
Highlight for answers: (Guanaco, Llama, Alpaca, Vicuna)
The guy on the left is the important one. He's a guanaco.
These were the original wild llamas of South America. They are currently the most widespread of the four species, and it is conjectured that these were the grandaddy species from which the Inca selectivly bred llamas to carry the shopping home on.
The guanaco is a tall and slender animal that is between 110cm and 125cm tall at the shoulder. At first glance, it looks more like a cross between a horse and an antelope, but its long neck, pointy ears and ability to survive for extended periods of time without taking a drink marks it out as a member of the camel family. Their fur is usually long and shaggy, especially on the chest and thighs, though not as thick as its fellow camelids. The fur is mainly a reddish-brown colour and usually white underneath the animal.
Thanks to the Incan selective breeding programme, the wild guanaco has remained wild, and the domestic variety has become an entire new species, the one we all know and love: the llama.
There are estimated to be somewhere in the region of 3.7 million llamas in South America, between central Peru and north-west Argentina. They are all domesticated, slaves to humanity and forced to carry loads of up to 50kg for up to 26km a day, at altitudes of approaching 5000m above sea level. Luckily, this is what they were bred to do, so they probably don't mind much. Interestingly, they do mind if they aren't part of a group, but alone. Then they refuse to be loaded with a pack at all. And if the load is too heavy, their cammely nature kicks in, and they lie on the ground stubbornly refusing to move until someone removes that last bit of straw.
When they were first bred out of the native population about a millenium ago, they were originally used as a source of meat. This practise ceased fairly quickly though, since llama doesn't taste very good. But to other native peoples in the Andes, the llama was as valuable as the buffalo was to North American tribes. Besides being a beast of burden, it provided meat, wool, leather, candle fat, rope from the hair plats, and the dung made a handy fuel. They've been a hit ever since, and they're also becoming increasingly popular as an exotic pet. There's one up the road from me in fact. Be aware you should have a paddock if you want to keep one really. They can be housetrained, but you'll need high ceilings and plenty of grass.
The other domesticated camelid in South America is the close relative the Alpaca, which together with the llama and guanaco makes up the genus Lama, one of only three camelidae genera.
The alpaca was domesticated about 2000 years ago primarily for it's wool and milk. The wool being much more highly valued than llama wool, for its softer texture and nice colours maybe. Its long shaggy wool is clearly good stuff: it enables the alpaca to survive in temperatures as low as -18C. As the llama becomes replaced by motorised transport, the Alpaca has become more important to Peru's export industry, as demand for fibre has increased, and Peru has a 90% market share in that particular er market. Apparently the USA is trying to get some Alpaca farms going as well, and crack into the market with some good ol' capitalism. Expect McAlpacaBucks franchises within a decade.
The alpaca isn't very interesting though, so here's some facts about the genus as a whole:
- The camel family is unique in that the red blood cells are ovaloid not circular. The four mountain varieties have huge numbers of these to get sufficient oxygen into the blood and allow energetic movement of camelid muscle.
- They are all vegetarian, and eat grass. Wikkid!
- The four South American camelids walk on pads at the end of their toes rather than the soles of the hooves, unlike all other ruminants. This means they can dance over the rocky terrain like the parallel evolutionary cousins of mountain goats. Which of course, they are.
Actually, I tell a lie, there is one more thing of interest about the Alpaca.
The alpaca can interbreed successfully with all of the other South American Llama species, though only voluntarily with the llama. Hehe.
But, I hear you cry, what about that throwaway comment about three camelidae genera? Surely the Bactrian and Dromedary camels of the Old World form one, the llamids of the West form another, which is the third? Well, the third is the genus Vicugna, and it doesn't take a genius does it.
The vicuna, the smallest, most graceful, most cute and least known of the South American camelids, has a smaller head that the llama, longer ears, and a big bushy white mane. Like the guanaco, the vicuna is also a wild animal, not sold out to humanity like the bigger two species. And, you will perhaps deduce from prior comments, the vicuna is also the scarcest of the four species. However, population levels are steady, because nobody hunts them. What's the point? Plains are huge, vicunas are undemanding, and they're just to cute to kill. They look good in front of impressive mountain scenery, and bring the photographers in. Hooray.
Which concludes an exploration of the Camilidae of the western hemisphere. There won't be one about the proper camels, because I don't like them.
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