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Saturday 6 February 2016

Llama

The llama is a member of the camel family. Its scientific name is "lama glama."

The llama and the alpaca were the first animals to be domesticated by the South American Indians - probably before 3000 BC. At that time both species appear to have been on the verge of extinction and the domestication saved them. Neither the llama nor the alpaca exists now in the wild.



One of the early Spanish explorers in South America wrote of seeing 20,000 in one herd. It is estimated that as many as 300,000 llamas were being used at that time to transport silver ore from the mines of the Incas.

The llama is the national symbol of Bolivia.


Male llamas have a separate set of "fighting teeth" - They are used to attack and bite the testicles off of other males.

Berserk llama syndrome is a real condition where a llama believes its human owner is also a llama, causing the animal to  sneak up behind them to attack.

According to the credits, Monty Python and the Holy Grail was directed by 76,203 llamas, Terry Gilliam, and Terry Jones.

A duet sung by Freddie Mercury and Michael Jackson remained unfinished because the Queen frontman walked out of the recording. He couldn’t tolerate Jackson bringing his pet llama, Louie, into the studio.

For years, Julio was the oldest llama living in captivity. He lived on a farm in Olympia, Washington state, USA. A bill of purchase from 1992 was completed three years after Julio’s assumed birth at Schreiner Farms on July 4, 1989. Julio died peacefully in his sleep on March 8, 2018.

Dalai Llama, born on January 27, 1996, is the oldest living llama in captivity. He is owned by Jill "Kee" Straits, Maria-Fernanda "Sami" Straits and Andrew Thomas in Albuquerque, New Mexico, USA. Dalai Llama came to his current owners at the age of 14. His previous family had obtained him as a 4-H project for their kids, but their kids had grown up and he was unattended. In February 2023, Dalai Llama was officially recognized as the oldest living llama in captivity by Guinness World Records.

Michael Jackson had a pet llama called Louie the Llama.

Source Comptons Encyclopedia

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