What Are The Basic Habits Of The Mountain Camel?

The mountain camel's habitat is high up in the South American Andes, in the stony deserts or punas. The vicuna is wild, greatly prized for his fur, while the llama (pronounced lyah´mah in Spanish) is domesticated, a genuine ship of the desert. They look quite different from the creature we are used to calling "camel," yet both are true camels.

The llama is primarily a beast of burden, but a unique burden-bearer, for he can carry heavy loads even in the ratified air of mountain heights, often below zero and amid battering winds and howling blizzards. However, he will not accept one ounce more load than he wishes to carry. Llamas grow fat and sleek up on those barren slopes, where not a blade of grass can be seen, and where only bare rock and sand appear.

But how do they survive? Here is where their mountaineering ability comes into play! They seek out delicious morsels (that is, to them) such as reindeer moss, lichen and cacti, getting them on incredibly precipitous pastures.

The llama has some special equipment, too, and he needs it, for some of the great hunters of the animal world stalk him—the mountain lion and the jaguar. Soft, padded, almost clawlike toes permit him to adhere to impossibly steep surfaces as though he had suction cups for feet. The feet themselves, very loosely jointed at the hocks, often appear dislocated as they adjust to every angle and crevice.

Add Comment

Report