Guanaco

The guanaco (Lama guanicoe) is a South American camelid and a close wild relative of the domesticated llama. It shares the continent with only one other wild camelid, the vicuña, which favors higher altitudes. Standing 1.0 to 1.3 meters at the shoulder and measuring 2.1 to 2.2 meters in body length, guanacos weigh between 90 and 140 kilograms. Their coat is fairly consistent in color—light brown to dark cinnamon with white undersides—unlike the variable llama. They have gray faces, small straight ears, and thick neck skin that helps protect against predators; this hide is used in Bolivia for shoe soles. Guanacos can live up to 28 years and are among the largest land mammals native to South America, alongside tapirs, marsh deer, white-tailed deer, spectacled bears, and jaguars. In Chile, legal hunting is restricted to Tierra del Fuego, where between 2007 and 2012 some 13,200 were taken.

The name comes from the Quechua word *wanaku*; young are called chulengos or guanaquitos. Herbivores, they graze on grasses, shrubs, herbs, lichens, fungi, cacti, and flowers, swallowing food with minimal chewing before digesting it in a forestomach after rumination—a process similar to ruminants but thought to have evolved independently. Their blood is rich in red blood cells, with about 68 million per teaspoon—four times the human count—allowing them to live at altitudes up to 4,000 meters, except in Patagonia where ice covers vegetation at such heights. Guanaco fiber is prized for its softness and warmth, second only to vicuña wool in South American luxury fabrics. The pelts, especially from calves, sometimes substitute for red fox pelts. Like llamas, they have a double coat: coarse guard hairs and a soft undercoat with fibers about 16–18 μm in diameter, comparable to cashmere.

Two subspecies are recognized: *Lama guanicoe guanicoe* in the north and *Lama guanicoe cacsilensis* in the south. Guanacos inhabit steppes, scrublands, and mountainous regions across the altiplano of Peru, Bolivia, and Chile, as well as Patagonia, with small populations in Paraguay and on Isla Grande de Tierra del Fuego. As of 2016, estimates range from 1.5 to 2 million animals: 1,225,000–1,890,000 in Argentina, 270,000–299,000 in Chile, 3,000 in Peru, 150–200 in Bolivia, and 20–100 in Paraguay—just 3–7% of pre-Spanish conquest numbers. A small introduced population of about 400 lives on Staats Island in the Falkland Islands (Malvinas). In Torres del Paine National Park, numbers rose from 175 in 1975 to 3,000 in 1993. They form herds of females, young, and a dominant male, while bachelor males gather in separate groups of up to 50. They can run at 56 km/h (35 mph) over steep terrain and are strong swimmers. Typical lifespan is 20 to 25 years. In Bolivia, woody plant encroachment threatens their habitat.

Some guanacos survive in the Atacama Desert, where rain may not fall for decades. Along a mountainous coastline, cool ocean air meets hot land, creating fog that cacti and lichens capture; guanacos eat the cactus flowers and lichens. Diurnal and alert, a male warns the herd with a bleat when danger approaches. They can sprint up to 64 km/h (40 mph), crucial for survival on open grasslands. Natural predators include pumas and the culpeo (Andean fox). Fox predation was first observed in 2007 in Tierra del Fuego’s Karukinka Reserve, likely due to scarce food from unfavorable climate conditions.