When I saw them for the first time, I was a little perplexed and I had the impulse to shout at the driver of the bus "please stop for a while, I really want to see those beautiful creatures with long legs and long necks that gracefully jump all over the steppe! What are those animals ... camels without humps or athletic llamas?", I joked with my travel companions.
I haven't finished my thought and the driver told us to look at the window to admire the GUANACOS, the wild animals that are believed to be the ancestors of the domesticated llamas and alpacas. They live in South America from south of Chile to the south of Peru and they are the largest native herbivore in Patagonia, grazing freely on the arid steep and in the Andean forests. Their main predators are mountain lions, but guanacos are good runners - they can reach 50km per hour - and they are good swimmers too. As an adaptation to life at high altitude, they have four times more red blood cells than humans.
Charles Darwin referred to guanaco as "an elegant animal in a state of nature, with a long slender neck and fine legs". They absolutely deserve this compliment!
But... as elegant as they are, I heard that if you get them angry, guanacos forget their good manners and start spitting and the locals said that they can spit up to 2 meters away and they rarely miss their target, so watch out! :)
P.S.
Charles Darwin referred to guanaco as "an elegant animal in a state of nature, with a long slender neck and fine legs". They absolutely deserve this compliment!
But... as elegant as they are, I heard that if you get them angry, guanacos forget their good manners and start spitting and the locals said that they can spit up to 2 meters away and they rarely miss their target, so watch out! :)
Now, can you tell me which one is your favorite ... llama, alpaca or guanaco?
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