Peru's Llamas, Vicuñas, and Alpacas
Llamas, vicuñas, guanacos, and alpacas roam the highlands of Peru, but unfortunately not in the great herds of pre-Inca times. Nevertheless, a few are always around, especially the domesticated llama and alpaca. The sly vicuña, like the guanaco, refuses domestication. Here's a primer on how to tell them apart.
The alpaca is the cute and cuddly one, especially while still a baby. It grows a luxurious, long coat that comes in as many as 20 colors, and its wool is used for knitting sweaters and weaving rugs and wall hangings. Its finest wool is from the first shearing and is called "baby alpaca." When full grown it's close to 1.5 meters (5 feet) tall and weighs about 48 kg (106 pounds). Its size and the shortness of its neck distinguish it from the llama. There are two types of alpaca: the common huancayo with short thick legs; and the less-predominant suri, which is a bit taller, and also nicknamed the Bob Marley for the shaggy, curly dreadlocks that grow around its face and chest.
The guanaco, a cousin of the delicate vicuña, is a thin-legged, wild, endangered camelid, with a coarse, reddish-brown coat and a soft white underbelly. Its hair is challenging to weave on its own, so often it's mixed with other fibers, like alpaca. The guanaco weighs about 90 kg (200 pounds) and can be up to 1.5 meters (5 feet) long and 1–1.2 meters (3–4 feet) high. Eighty percent of guanacos live in Patagonia, but the other 20% are scattered across the altiplano (high plains) of southern Peru, Chile, and Bolivia. It's the only camelid that can live both at sea level and in the high-altitude Andes.
The llama is a pack animal with a coarse coat in as many as 50 colors, though one that's unsuitable for fine wearing apparel. It can reach almost 2 meters (6 feet) from its hoofs to the top of its elongated neck and long, curved ears. It can carry 40–60 kg (88–132 pounds), depending on the length of the trip. It can also have some nasty habits, like spitting in your eye or kicking you if you get too close to its hind legs.
The vicuña has a more delicate appearance. It will hold still (with help) for shearing, and its wool is the most desirable. Almost rendered extinct by unrestricted hunting, it is now protected by the Peruvian government. It's the smallest of the Andean camelids, at 1.3 meters (4 feet), and weighs about 40 kg (88 pounds) at maturity. It's found mostly at altitudes over 3,600 meters (11,800 feet).
