Llama

Llamas are camelids that were domesticated by the Runa haulfins millennia ago. Within the Collao mountains and plateau, llamas continue to be a valuable resource for travel, work, meat, dairy, clothing, and overall comfort.

Basic Information

Biological Traits

Llamas along with guanacos, vicuñas, and alpacas are known collectively as lamoids, a group that falls within the larger camlids. Unlike them 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. 
Llamas have a variety of traits to thrive on the Collao plateaus and mountains like their high thirst tolerance, endurance, and ability to subsist on a wide variety of grasses which also makes them an important transport animal for the area.

Genetics and Reproduction

Llamas breed in the late summer and fall, from November to May. Their pregnancy lasts about 11 months, and the female will usually give birth to one young. Although usually white, the baby llama (cria) may be solid black or brown, or it may be white with black or brown markings.

Additional Information

Domestication

Scholars argue that the switch made by the native hauflins from a hunter-gatherer lifestyle to widespread agriculture was only possible because of the use of llama dung as fertilizer. The Kuna people groups frequently placed llamas and llama parts in the burials of important people, as offerings or provisions for the afterlife and depicted llamas quite realistically in their ceramics.
In the Quipu Empire, llamas were the only beasts of burden, and many of the people dominated by the Quipu had long traditions of llama herding. For the nobility, the llama was of symbolic significance, and llama figures were often buried with the dead. In modern Cemanahauc, llamas are still used as beasts of burden, as well as for the production of fiber and meat

Uses, Products & Exploitation

Fiber
Llamas have a fine undercoat, which can be used for handicrafts and garments. The coarser outer guard hair is used for rugs, wall-hangings and lead ropes. The fiber comes in many different colors ranging from white or grey to reddish-brown, brown, dark brown and black.

Geographic Origin and Distribution

The ancestors of llamas are thought to have originated from the central plains of Hahnunah about 40 million years ago, and subsequently migrated to Cemanahauc about three million years ago during the Great Abya Yala Exchange.

Scientific Name

Lama glama

Lifespan

25 to 30 years

Conservation Status

Domesticated

Average Height

1.7 to 1.8 m (5 ft 7 in to 5 ft 11 in)

Average Weight

130 and 200 kg (290 and 440 lb)