DECEMBER

        December is a photo of a guanaco - (guan-A-co) - a camelid, but not a llama, not an alpaca, and not a vicuña.  So what's the difference, you may well ask! All are from the species camelid, with the guanaco and the vicuña being wild, while the llama and the alpaca have been domesticated. All live in the southern altiplano of South America, with the guanaco being found further south. This one was photographed in the Torres del Paine National Park in Argentina. Llamas, descended from the guanacos, are the largest, and are primarily used as pack animals as its wool is not as fine as the alpaca. The wool from the smaller alpaca is quite soft and makes wonderful sweaters, etc. The wild vicuña has an even finer wool, and due to this, and its relative scarcity, is quite expensive. The guanaco has a coarse coat and is not prized for its wool, like the vicuña.

     This video explains in more detail the similarities and differences among the four:

                https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u6IBRD4ob88

      I spent 2 years in northern Ecuador, SA with the Peace Corps in the late 1960's. I saw no animals related to the one pictured above until I traveled further south into the altiplano of Peru and Bolivia. There, both alpacas and llamas were a part of daily life. The vicuña is wild, and I never saw one. I never even knew guanacos existed then. 

     On this trip, we spent only one day touring Torres del Paine National Park, but we saw large numbers of guanaco. It was difficult photographing them as they are wild, I was on a bus, and they were mostly too far away. They are quite fast, and have been clocked at 35 m.p.h. This one was cooperative :-))

                    Have a good December and I'll see you again next year!