Llamas Facts: Raising Llamas

By Jon Geller
Updated on September 4, 2024
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by Adobestock/Jeff McCollough

Learn llama facts, and llama care, and find answers to what do llamas eat to get started raising these cute, quirky, and surprisingly low-maintenance animals.

Here in the United States, llamas have enjoyed quite a surge in popularity for several reasons. The woolly beasts can be shorn every two years for their fiber, which varies in color from white to brown to black, and they make sturdy pack animals and guards. Cute as they are, many llamas serve no other purpose than to give their owners the pleasure of looking at them. (Incidentally, though most llama owners wouldn’t consider it, roasted llama is quite tasty, as many South American herdsmen can attest.)

Are Llamas Ruminants?

The “lama” family consists of llamas and alpacas, which are domesticated, and guanacos and vicunas, which are found in herds in the wilds of South America. Prehistoric fossils suggest they originated in North America, then migrated to their native lands of Bolivia, Chile and Peru, where they’ve been domesticated for about 4,000 years. They are modified ruminants called crias (Spanish for baby alpaca) and grow to an average of 300 to 400 pounds.

Contrary to what many llama owners believe, the fiber from llama shearing is not highly desirable because of its mixture of coarse guard hairs and fine under fiber. When painstaking efforts are made to separate and card shorn fiber, it can sell for about $2 per ounce, depending on the color. Alpacas are far superior to llamas in the quality of their fiber, but they do not have the versatility of the llama to provide packing and guarding abilities.

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