It is the biggest member of the camel family in South America. It´s original from Peru and Bolivia Highlands but actually it can be found in the Andes of Ecuador and Chile. There are two kinds of Llamas, the ones with less hair known as q´ara which does not have hair in his face and the ones with much hair known as ch´aku which is a rarer race. There is also a third kind but it is a half-blooded known as huarizos.
In the old days Llamas were used by the Incas as its pals in the desert, only as a beast of burden, a regular llama can carry a load of 45–60 kg and average 25 to 30 km travel a day; but actually this gentle animal has many other uses like a source of food, wool, hides and dried dung for fuel.
Due to its endurance the Llama is the perfect animal to travel with in the high Andean mountains. They are never in coastal regions like Lima or in wild regions like Loreto. A funny fact about Llamas is that this smart animal know their limits so when someone overload it, they will lie down, kick, spit and refuse to move. This could also happen if you shout at it. I hope it´s a learned lesson next time you see a Llama.
Generally, Llamas are domesticated animals and that´s why you won´t see many of them running along plateaus unlike its cousin, the vicuña, you will find Llamas close to people and farms. Incas bred them for centuries before the Spanish empire arrived.
Some curious facts about Llamas are that its poop has almost no odor so farmers refer to it as Llama beans. Mama llamas only have one baby at a time and its pregnancy lasts for about 350 days, nearly a full year. Llamas are social animals and like to be in herds.
Finally, only to talk some more about its wool, Llama fleece has been shorn and used in textiles for about 6,000 years. Llama wool is light, warm, soft, water-repellent and yet remarkably warm.