guanaco

[Spanish, from Quechua huanaco.]

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Lama guanicoe

TAXONOMY

Lama guanicoe (Müller, 1776), Chile. Three subspecies.

OTHER COMMON NAMES

French: Guanaco; German: Guanako; Spanish: Guanaco.

PHYSICAL CHARACTERISTICS

Average height of 3.7 ft (112 cm) and weighs 330.6 lb (150 kg); 5 ft (150 cm) long, including head and body; tail 9.8 in (25 cm) long. Slender body, with a relatively short wooly pelage that is a light brown with blackish tones on the head, while the area around the lips is whitish, as are the edge of the ears, the lower part of the body, and the inner side of the legs. The feet are brown, and there is a collar of white hair at the lower part of the neck.

DISTRIBUTION

Found throughout most of Argentina, the high Andes of Peru, and northeastern and southern latitudes of Chile; a small population is restricted to the Chaco region of Bolivia and Paraguay.

HABITAT

Grasslands and shrublands from sea level to over 11,482 ft (3,500 m). In southern latitudes, inhabits forests during the winter.

BEHAVIOR

Forms family groups of two to 30 individuals, consisting of an adult dominant male and females with their year's offspring. Young females may also be present. The dominant male defends the territory from other males. Males groups are made up of young and adult males whose number may amount to 50 individuals. Solitary males are physically and sexually mature males prepared to form a territory. Neither male groups nor solitary males are tolerated in family group areas and are violently expelled, so they are forced to cover a wider range in search of food.

FEEDING ECOLOGY AND DIET

Feeds on grasses, shrubs, epiphyte plants, lichens, fungi, and particularly halophyte plants.

REPRODUCTIVE BIOLOGY

Polygamous. Females reach sexual maturity when they are one year old, while males are sexually mature when they reach three to four years of age. After a gestation period that lasts 320–340 days, a single young is born, weighing 17.6–26.4 lb (8–12 kg). Conception generally takes place a week after the female has given birth. Within a month of age, the young starts grazing and is nursed by its mother until it is six to eight months old.

CONSERVATION STATUS

All populations remain Vulnerable, according to the IUCN Red List, and are on Appendix II of the CITES Convention. At present, there are more than 600,000 guanacos throughout its range of distribution.

SIGNIFICANCE TO HUMANS

Indigenous cultures in the southernmost areas of South America

traditionally benefited from this species, obtaining meat for food, hides for clothing and shelter, bezoar stones for medical purposes, fibers for sewing, and domesticated juveniles for entertainment. At present, a commercial value is being assigned only to the pelts of young and adult hides. This commercial use is regulated in the CITES Convention. The three sub-species of guanaco are listed as Vulnerable or Endangered by the IUCN.

A small cameloid. See llama. Called also huanaco.