THE ANDEAN LLAMAS.

Llamas have been selectively bred as a high altitude pack animal. High in the Andes Mountains, they have been helping people carry their wares for thousands of years. Their thick coats of wool and honed survival instincts enable them to thrive in one of the most extreme climates on earth.
The Inca empire depended on the llama to transport trade goods, root crops, and building materials to extremely difficult locations throughout the Andean highlands.
The lost Incan city of Machu Pichu, perched on a high saddle, between two jagged mountain peaks, 2,000 feet above the mighty Urubamba River, was the preferred site of pasture land for the llamas.
They were revered by the Pre-Inca and Inca civilization. It is the second most depicted form in Andean art, next to the sun.
The llama is a member of the camel family, and is one of the oldest domesticated animals in the world. They are perfect low-impact, high altitude pack animal. Their leather padded, two-toed feet and natural agility give them a sure-footed step akin to mountain goats. Their wild relatives are the Andean guanacos and vicunas.
The height of a full-grown, full-size llama is 1.8 meters/5.9ft tall at the top of the head, and can weight between 130 and 200 kilograms/290 and 440lb. Llamas typically live for 15 to 25 years, with some individuals surviving 30 years or more in their natural habitat.
Llamas, when used as pack animals, they can carry about 25 to 30% of their body weight. They are usually saddled with loads of 50 to 75 pounds. Under such weight they can cover up to 20 miles in a single day along the mountain highlands.
Llamas are willing pack animals but only to a point. An overload llama will simply refuse to move. They lie down on the ground and may spit, hiss, or even kick at their owners until their burden is lessened. Llamas are also used as a food source and fiber, and as a guard animal. Those uses still continue today. The llama has been found to be unique in this capacity.
Because the Andean lands are in their natural state and free of commercial pesticides and fertilizers the meat produced by the Llama is all natural and full of nutrients. The Llama's ability to efficiently utilize the low grade, sparse forage common to the semi-arid Andean mountains establishes its validity as a meat animal. Llamas, like cows, regurgitate their food and chew it as cud. They chomp on such wads for some time before swallowing them for complete digestion. Llamas can survive by eating many different kinds of low grade forages, and they need little water. These attributes make them durable and dependable even in sparse mountainous terrain. Other species of domestic meat animals cannot efficiently utilize the same amount of forage because they require higher quality and quantity.
Llamas contribute much more than transportation to the Andean communities in which they live.
The Quechua people eat the Llama meat both fresh and dried. The dried meat called "charqui" is the original form of what is referred to in today world as "jerky" The meat is lean, low fat, and nutrient dense. Its taste is similar to the taste of grass fat beef.
The llama's fiber is quite versatile and exceptional in its performance, easily maintained, and comfortable. Leather is made from their hides, and ropes, rugs, and fabrics from their wool. The wool is very soft and lanolin-free. (Lanolin is a wax secreted by the sebaceous glands of wool-bearing animals)
The llama's excrement is dried and burned for fuel. Their tracks and droppings are similar to an elk's, and have little impact on fragile wilderness trails. They exemplify the "leave no trace" wilderness ethic.
Llamas are great hiking companions. They are alert, and curious. They walk at a comfortable pace for humans and their keen senses of smell, hearing, and sight often point out a distant herd of other animals.
Lamas are very intelligent and can learn simple tasks after a few repetition. Selectively bred for gentleness, for over five thousand years, a well trained llama will eagerly follow adults and children alike. They are very social and can live with other llamas as a herd. The llama's territorial nature, protective instincts, and self-sufficient combine to make the animal an effective guard animal. The llama will not attack predators invading the territory, but will actually move the flock/herd to the most defensible position available.