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Photograph of a Quechua girl
and her llama in the Andes Mountains in Peru demonstrating her devotion to
caring for her animal. Llamas (Lama glama) are members of the camel
family and have been domesticated in South America for thousands of years.
They are commonly used as a pack animal in the Andes similar to the use of
donkeys in the Old World. In addition, they are eaten and their meat is
considered a delicacy by some people. Surprisingly, fossil evidence suggests that the
Llama did not originate in South America, rather in North America. After
migrating to South America about three million years ago, llamas became extinct
in North America about the end of the last ice age at about the time that Man
migrated to North America. In fact, some archaeologists believe that the
Paleo-Indians were responsible for their extinction in North America. In
any case, currently there are an estimated seven million llamas and alpacas (Vicugna
pacos) in South America. Alpacas differ from llamas in being much
smaller in size and are not used as a pack animal rather they were bred for
their fiber which is used in textiles. The wild ancestor of the llama is
believed to be the Vicuña (Vicugna vicugna) which is still found wild in
the higher elevations of the Andes Mountains.
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