Llama (Lama glama): Facts, Size, Spitting and Uses

What is a llama?

Llamas belong to the family Camelidae, the same family as the dromedary and Bactrian camels. South America is home to four humpless camelids: two wild species, the guanaco and the vicuña, and two domestic ones, the llama and the alpaca. All four can interbreed and produce fertile young.

DNA studies, including a widely cited 2001 analysis by Miranda Kadwell and colleagues, confirmed that the llama descends mainly from the guanaco, while the alpaca descends mainly from the vicuña. Domestication took place in the central Andes, probably in the high grasslands of Peru, several thousand years ago; archaeologists usually place it somewhere between about 4,000 and 7,000 years ago.

The camel family itself began in North America. Camelids lived there for tens of millions of years, and llama-like animals of the extinct genus Hemiauchenia roamed places such as California, Texas and Florida during the last ice age. Ancestors of today’s South American camelids crossed into South America about three million years ago, while the North American camelids died out at the end of the Pleistocene, roughly 10,000–12,000 years ago.

Appearance

A llama has a long neck, long legs, a narrow, fairly long face and tall ears that curve inward at the tips, often described as banana-shaped. There is no hump. The upper lip is split, so each half can move separately to pick up plants, and the short tail is often carried slightly raised.

Each foot has two toes with nails and a soft, leathery pad underneath instead of a hard hoof, which helps llamas grip rocky trails and treads lightly on pasture. Like other camelids, llamas have no upper front incisors; the lower incisors press plants against a hard dental pad. Adult males grow sharp, curved “fighting teeth” in the upper and lower jaws, which they use against rival males.

Llama wool comes in a wide range of colors: white, gray, fawn, reddish brown, dark brown and black, either solid or in patches and spots. Breeders often describe two broad coat types. Classic llamas, called ccara in the Andes, have shorter fiber on the body and little wool on the head and legs. Woolly llamas, called chaku, have a longer, denser coat. The fleece is a double coat: a soft undercoat mixed with coarser outer guard hairs.

How big is a llama?

The llama is the largest South American camelid. Adults usually stand about 1.0–1.2 m (3.3–4 ft) at the shoulder, and because of the long neck the head reaches about 1.7–1.8 m (5.6–5.9 ft), taller than many people. Most adults weigh 130–200 kg (290–440 lb), and large males can be heavier. Males and females look much alike.

The easiest way to tell a llama from an alpaca is size and ears: the llama is roughly twice as heavy and has long, curved ears, while the alpaca has short, straight, spear-shaped ears and a fluffier face. The full comparison is in alpaca vs llama.

Where do llamas live?

There are no wild llamas. Their traditional home is the Altiplano and the surrounding high grasslands and shrublands of the Andes in Peru, Bolivia, northern Chile and northwestern Argentina, mostly at about 2,300–4,000 m (7,500–13,100 ft). The climate there is dry and cold, with strong sun, thin air and frosty nights.

Llamas are well suited to altitude. Their blood is rich in hemoglobin and their red blood cells are oval rather than round, features that help them take up oxygen efficiently in thin mountain air. Bolivia keeps more llamas than any other country, and South America as a whole was estimated in 2007 to hold more than seven million llamas and alpacas combined.

Outside South America, llamas have been kept in zoos since the 19th century and as farm animals since the 1970s and 1980s, especially in the United States, Canada, the United Kingdom, continental Europe, Australia and New Zealand.

What do llamas eat?

Llamas are herbivores. In the Andes they graze on grasses and browse low shrubs and other hardy mountain plants; on farms they eat pasture grass and hay, much like sheep and goats. They get much of their water from their food and drink relatively little for an animal of their size.

Like camels, llamas chew the cud: food is swallowed, partly fermented in the stomach, brought back up and chewed again. Their stomach has three compartments rather than the four of cattle and sheep, so camelids are not usually classed as true ruminants, but the system is efficient at extracting nutrients from tough, low-quality plants. A llama typically eats only about 1.8–2% of its body weight in dry food a day.

Llama behavior

Llamas are social herd animals and become stressed if kept alone. Herds have a clear but changing pecking order, and rank is tested with small squabbles. Males fight more seriously, chest-ramming, neck-wrestling, biting at legs and trying to knock each other off balance, and a beaten male lies down with his neck lowered as a sign of submission.

Llamas communicate with body language and sound:

• Ears. Ears pinned flat back signal annoyance or fear; ears pricked forward show alertness or curiosity.
• Humming. A soft hum is the most common sound, used between mothers and crias and when llamas are curious, uneasy or separated from the herd.
• Alarm call. On spotting a dog, coyote or other threat, a llama gives a loud, shrill, rhythmic alarm call, and the herd turns to stare at the danger.
• Spitting. Llamas spit mostly at each other, over food and rank. Well-raised llamas rarely spit at people. The reasons are explained in Why do llamas spit?.

Llamas are also tidy animals. A herd uses a few shared dung piles, which keeps the rest of the pasture clean and may also act as a scent signal to other herds. They are curious and can learn simple tasks after a few repetitions, which is one reason they are easy to train for leading and packing. Llamas that are hand-raised and over-handled as babies can, however, grow into adults that treat people like other llamas, pushing, kicking and spitting.

Reproduction, life cycle and lifespan

Llamas can breed at any time of year. Females are induced ovulators: they release an egg in response to mating rather than on a regular cycle. Mating is unusual for a large mammal. The female lies down in a resting position called kush (or cush), and the pair mate lying down for about 20–45 minutes, while the male makes a gargling sound called orgling.

Pregnancy lasts about 11.5 months, roughly 350 days, and a female almost always has a single baby, called a cria. Llamas give birth standing up, usually in the morning, which gives the cria time to dry off and warm up before the freezing Andean night. Crias weigh about 9–14 kg (20–31 lb) at birth and are standing, walking and trying to nurse within about an hour. Mothers do not lick their newborns; instead they nuzzle and hum to them.

Crias are usually weaned at around four to six months of age, depending on how the herd is managed. Females can breed from about one to two years old, while males do not reach full breeding maturity until about two to three years.

Llamas usually live 15–25 years. Well-cared-for animals on farms in Europe and North America often reach their early twenties, and a few have lived past 30. Llamas in the Andes, exposed to harsh weather, predators and less veterinary care, often have shorter lives.

Predators and threats

In South America, pumas and Andean foxes can kill llamas, especially young crias, and free-roaming dogs are a problem almost everywhere. In North America, the main predators of llamas are dogs and coyotes, along with the occasional cougar. Adult llamas are not easy prey: they stand their ground, give alarm calls and may charge, kick and stamp at small predators.

Because the llama is a domestic animal, it is not assessed on the IUCN Red List. Its wild ancestor, the guanaco, is listed as Least Concern, though it has disappeared from much of its former range.

What are llamas used for?

For thousands of years the llama was the Andes’ main beast of burden, the only large pack animal in the Americas before the Spanish conquest. Llama caravans carried crops, salt, textiles and trade goods between valleys, and the Inca state kept huge herds. In the colonial era, llamas carried silver ore from the mines of Potosí in what is now Bolivia, until horses, mules and donkeys took over much of the work. Andean families still use llamas for meat, fiber, hides and dung, which serves as both fuel and fertilizer.

In Europe and North America, llamas are kept for trekking, as show animals and companions, for fiber and, famously, as livestock guardians. Since the early 1980s, ranchers in the western United States have used single llamas, usually gelded males, to protect sheep and goats from coyotes and dogs. Llamas also visit nursing homes and hospitals as therapy animals. In science, llamas are known for producing unusually small antibodies, called nanobodies, which researchers study as tools for medicine and biology. More detail is in What are llamas used for?.

Myths and facts

• Myth: llamas spit at people all the time. Fact: most spitting is aimed at other llamas during disputes over food or rank. People are hit mainly when they are caught in the middle or handle a poorly socialized llama.
• Myth: a llama is a kind of sheep. Fact: early European visitors compared llamas to sheep, but llamas are camelids, closer to camels than to sheep, goats or cattle.
• Myth: llamas and alpacas are the same animal. Fact: they are separate domestic species with different wild ancestors. Llamas are much larger and were bred mainly for carrying loads; alpacas were bred for fleece.
• Myth: llamas store water in a hump. Fact: llamas have no hump at all, and even camels store fat, not water, in theirs. Llamas save water through efficient digestion and a long large intestine that reabsorbs moisture.

Llamas and people

Llamas hold a special place in Andean culture. The Moche people of northern Peru portrayed llamas realistically in their pottery and buried them with important individuals, and the Inca used llamas in religious offerings. In Quechua tradition, the dark cloud patches of the Milky Way include a celestial llama, Yacana, with the bright stars Alpha and Beta Centauri as its eyes.

Today the llama is one of the most recognizable animals of South America and a familiar sight on farms and trekking routes far beyond the Andes. Calm, curious and surprisingly hardy, it remains what it has been for thousands of years: a working partner in the high mountains.