Hi I don't know if this helps. I found an interesting article about comparing livestock guardians to donkey to llamas. Here it is

http://www.nal.usda.gov/awic/pubs/1218.pdf

I do not believe there is a wild llama. Llamas were domesticated a long time ago. I am not sure if they really have a natural environment per se. Also, not all llamas are effective guardians. The ones that do guard, what they do when they see a threat is make a bunch of noise and actually charge the threat without hesitation and is very focused. This action in itself usually deters a predator who relies on animals running away from it - so this behavior of a llama really becomes a psychological challenge as well.

Regarding predatory felines - I do not believe llamas would be an effective deterrent against a cougar. Our neighbors had a few llamas taken by cougars and when I was working for cheetah conservation in Africa, the use of llamas was brought up but dismissed because the researchers were not convinced the llama would deter a cheetah (which is temperamentally more "fragile" than a cougar) and definitely not a lioness or leopard. We opted for bull mastiffs instead.

I guess it really depends on what you're trying to guard against. Coyotes and wild dogs, yes, a guardian llama is very effective. A pack of wolves, not so much. Cougars, probably not so much.

 Quote: Howard Knauf

No experience to share for you but....the visual you just gave is very disturbing. Will the goat herder. How could it be? Or are you just raising your own culinary delicasies? sp?

My ranch will have goats ( milk for cheese making ), rabbits, chickens, and bees.
Those along with the garden should cover around 50% of our diet, which is my goal by year three.
Lord knows what I'll be able to bring in via hunting and fishing, but it should be a good haul.

Us and the dogs are gonna eat well!



And thanks to everyone for the links and info, I'll be posting photos as I get it all done....

Thanks Siaty,
Sorry if that's your surname (I admit and apologize for my ignorance).
I rather knew most if not all of the llamas and alpacas were more or less domesticated as much as half wild animals can be domesticated. But lived rather isolated and unattended for most of the seasons. Kinda like free range cattle of the western USA. Left mostly to their own devices and checked on only occassionally. Am I mistaken?

I only knew the alpaca and llama live in the same climes as an indigenous large cat, I didn't know how they would fare or deal with such a ferocious pedator. But I'm sure your right. It wouldn't be an equal match.

Randy

Llamas are native to the South American Andes mountains (although it is speculated that they originated in the North American plains and migrated to South America and died out in North America). They are related to the camel. I do believe that are still wild Llamas in the Andes, but I don't think they are wild anywhere else.

Yes Elisabeth,
You're right, that is something I neglected to mention. I was thinking of the animals inhabiting the Andes of Peru and Chile. Their natural habitat.

Randy

Randy,

Siaty is my first name, no need to apologize because it is such a weird name. Sorry if I misunderstood you regarding llamas' natural environments and possible predatory cats. For llamas that are free ranging (if there are any) in large cat predatory country, they would become prey. Nonetheless, aside from the cougar, there really are not any other large cat in the Americas that would prey on the llama. In Peru, where llamas supposedly originate from (I think) the only large feline predator I can think of is the jaguar, which lives in the jungles, so I am not sure if there will ever be such encounters.

My parents were one of the early adopters of using llamas as guardians back in the 80's, so I am sure the guardian instincts and handling of llamas have evolved significantly since then. My experience is limited to accounts from those early years and all the interactions I had with the llamas have been very positive (no spitting), except for when they saw the dogs.

S

With respect to wild llamas, Britannica states the following:

The llama and the alpaca (L. pacos) are domestic animals not known to exist in the wild state. They appear to have been bred from guanacos during or before the Inca Indian civilization to be used as beasts of burden.

http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/345057/llama

Cool,
No arguement from here Siaty.

On the large cat though, I don't know the name but there is a large cat that inhabits the high regions of the Andes. It may well be related to the jaguar distantly however I believe it has it's own niche.

Randy

From http://www.americazoo.com/goto/index/mammals/358.htm regarding the guanaco:

 Quote:

We are more familiar with the other name used for this animal: the llama. However, the llama is a domesticated guanaco. The alpaca is another domesticated guanaco bred specifically for its wool, and it is thus much hairier than its llama kin.

So, according to that, a guanaco is just a wild llama.

This seems to be subject where every source says something a bit different. Britannica even says that whether they are considered the same or a different species depends on the source *rolls eyes*

Now that this subject has come up it is bugging me and I really want to know, but I guess it is one of those things that nobody really knows or agrees upon.

At any rate, they are cute I like goats too, lol ... and since I am not contributing anything useful to this topic, I will hush now