Geographic Range Llamas have a native range all along the Andes mountains, but are not found in the wild. Lama glama can be found commercially throughout North America, Europe and Australia. An indispensable pack animal, herds of L. glama are maintained extensively by the native human populations in Argentina, Ecuador, Chile, Bolivia and Peru. ("Llama", 2004; Microsoft Encarta, 2004a) Biogeographic Regions

nearctic introduced

palearctic introduced

neotropical native

australian introduced



Habitat The Andean highlands, especially the Altiplano of southeast Peru and western Bolivia, is the natural habitat of L. glama. These plateaus are covered with low growth, including various shrubs stunted trees and grasses. In the Altiplano region, the northern reaches are reasonably temperate and mountainous, whereas the south is drier, desert-like and inhospitable. Llamas are known to inhabit elevations no greater than 4,000 meters above sea level. ("Llama", 2004; Microsoft Encarta, 2004b; Microsoft Encarta, 2004a) Habitat Regions

temperate

terrestrial Terrestrial Biomes

mountains Other Habitat Features

agricultural Range elevation 2300 to 4000 m 7545.93 to 13123.36 ft

Average elevation 3000 m 9842.52 ft

Lifespan/Longevity Well cared for domesticated individuals can live in excess of 20 years but most live for about 15 years. (Honolulu Zoo, 2004; The Rolling Hills Zoo, 1991) Range lifespan

Status: captivity 10 to 20 years

Average lifespan

Status: captivity 16 years

Typical lifespan

Status: captivity 10 to 20 years

Average lifespan

Status: captivity 16 years

Average lifespan

Status: wild 20.0 years Max Planck Institute for Demographic Research

Food Habits Llamas browse on low shrubs, lichens, and mountain vegetation. Llamas make use of native shrubs and grasses including Parastrephia sp., Baccharis sp. (shrubs) as well as Munroa sp., Eragrostis sp., and Triseobromus sp. (grasses). Llamas tend to live in very dry climates and get most of the moisture from their food. Camelids consume about 2 to 3 gallons of water, and 1.8% of their body weight in dry food (grass, hay) per day. Llamas have three stomachs and are ruminants. When kept as domestic animals llamas adapt well to the same diet as sheep and goats. (Anderson, 2002; The Rolling Hills Zoo, 1991; Vaughan, et al., 2000) Primary Diet

herbivore folivore

Plant Foods

leaves

roots and tubers

seeds, grains, and nuts

sap or other plant fluids

bryophytes

lichens

Ecosystem Roles Llamas are about the ecological equivalant of a large deer. They browse on low vegetation and their padded foot does less damage to the grazing area than the hooves of other livestock. (Stamberg and Wilson, 1997)

Economic Importance for Humans: Positive Llamas are domesticated animals, and so are inherently important to human economies. The thick, coarse wool of llamas is valuable. These animals are sheared every two years, yielding about 3 kg of fleece. Farmers have used L. glama to curb predation of sheep by canids. By incorporating a few llamas into their sheep or goat flocks, studies indicate that predation drops sharply. Llamas have also been used as golf caddies and as farmyard pets. Historically llamas were used to haul loads over the Andean mountains because of their ability to carry burdens in excess of 60 kg for up to 30 km per day. ("Llama", 2004; Dias de Avila Pires, 2004; Honolulu Zoo, 2004; Lewerenz, 2001) Positive Impacts

pet trade

body parts are source of valuable material

Economic Importance for Humans: Negative There are no reported negative effects on human economies created by llamas.

Conservation Status Llamas are not endangered and are in fact quite widespread today. There are nearly 3 million individuals worldwide with nearly 70% of the population located in Bolivia. (Parera, 2002) IUCN Red List No special status

US Federal List No special status

CITES No special status

Contributors Nancy Shefferly (editor), Animal Diversity Web. Charles Portman (author), University of Michigan-Ann Arbor, Phil Myers (editor, instructor), Museum of Zoology, University of Michigan-Ann Arbor.

Glossary Australian Living in Australia, New Zealand, Tasmania, New Guinea and associated islands. Nearctic living in the Nearctic biogeographic province, the northern part of the New World. This includes Greenland, the Canadian Arctic islands, and all of the North American as far south as the highlands of central Mexico. Neotropical living in the southern part of the New World. In other words, Central and South America. Palearctic living in the northern part of the Old World. In otherwords, Europe and Asia and northern Africa. acoustic uses sound to communicate agricultural living in landscapes dominated by human agriculture. bilateral symmetry having body symmetry such that the animal can be divided in one plane into two mirror-image halves. Animals with bilateral symmetry have dorsal and ventral sides, as well as anterior and posterior ends. Synapomorphy of the Bilateria. chemical uses smells or other chemicals to communicate diurnal active during the day, 2. lasting for one day. dominance hierarchies ranking system or pecking order among members of a long-term social group, where dominance status affects access to resources or mates endothermic animals that use metabolically generated heat to regulate body temperature independently of ambient temperature. Endothermy is a synapomorphy of the Mammalia, although it may have arisen in a (now extinct) synapsid ancestor; the fossil record does not distinguish these possibilities. Convergent in birds. female parental care parental care is carried out by females fertilization union of egg and spermatozoan folivore an animal that mainly eats leaves. herbivore An animal that eats mainly plants or parts of plants. induced ovulation ovulation is stimulated by the act of copulation (does not occur spontaneously) introduced referring to animal species that have been transported to and established populations in regions outside of their natural range, usually through human action. iteroparous offspring are produced in more than one group (litters, clutches, etc.) and across multiple seasons (or other periods hospitable to reproduction). Iteroparous animals must, by definition, survive over multiple seasons (or periodic condition changes). male parental care parental care is carried out by males motile having the capacity to move from one place to another. mountains This terrestrial biome includes summits of high mountains, either without vegetation or covered by low, tundra-like vegetation. native range the area in which the animal is naturally found, the region in which it is endemic. pet trade the business of buying and selling animals for people to keep in their homes as pets. polygynous having more than one female as a mate at one time sexual reproduction that includes combining the genetic contribution of two individuals, a male and a female social associates with others of its species; forms social groups. tactile uses touch to communicate temperate that region of the Earth between 23.5 degrees North and 60 degrees North (between the Tropic of Cancer and the Arctic Circle) and between 23.5 degrees South and 60 degrees South (between the Tropic of Capricorn and the Antarctic Circle). terrestrial Living on the ground. territorial defends an area within the home range, occupied by a single animals or group of animals of the same species and held through overt defense, display, or advertisement visual uses sight to communicate viviparous reproduction in which fertilization and development take place within the female body and the developing embryo derives nourishment from the female. year-round breeding breeding takes place throughout the year young precocial young are relatively well-developed when born