llamas
Llama glama
Our Llamas
The Texas Zoofari Park has a sizable population of llamas that we affectionately call Bucket Bandits — along with camels, Scottish Highland cattle, and zebras — because they love to nab feed buckets from our visitors.
In the Wild
Native to the South American highlands, llamas can survive at heights up to 16,000 feet. Because they can carry up to ¼ of their body weight for several miles, llamas were domesticated by local crop-growing tribes. Their wool is also shorn and spun to make clothing and home decor items such as rugs.
Llamas are very social animals and live in herds. Fully grown llamas can be nearly 6 feet tall and up to 350 pounds. They can live for 20 years in the wild.
Learn What Llamas Eat
Llamas are herbivores and eat grasses, hay, lichens, herbs and shrubs. They consume 10 to 12 pounds of food a day and don’t require a lot of water.
QUICK FACTS
Average height: 5-6 ft
Weight range: 150-350 lbs
First domesticated: 3500 BC
Highest altitude where llamas can live: 16,000 ft
DID YOU KNOW?
A llama’s stomach is made up of three compartments.
Cria is the name for a baby llama. In Spanish, it literally means baby.
Llamas are close relatives of camels.
While llamas resemble alpacas, llamas are actually much larger — about twice the size of their lookalikes.