Llamas, Alpacas, Guanacos and Vicunas are collectively known as New World Camelids. They are all members of the camelid family and are related to Bactrian and Dromedary camels. Their habitat is in South America from the northern Andes to the southern tip of the continent.

     The original migrants to South America were longer legged, as they were adapted to a plains ecology, but genera evolved in the Andes that were shorter legged, a better mode for mountainous terrain. The guanaco has the broadest distribution of the four camelids, from the tip of Tierra del Fuego to the Andes.

     They are are somewhat smaller than llamas, but are otherwise very similar. They have a different ear shape from that of the llama and all have a similar color pattern, although the intensity of the pattern varies with the region. They have a brownish upper body and neck, with the fronts of the limbs colored brown, and the backs of the limbs, chest, belly, anal region whitish to cream. This white area usually extends quite high into the flanks, as high as the point of the hip. The head is usually greyish to black.

    Llamas were domesticated from the guanaco by about 4000 B.C. The guanaco is wild and endangered in much of its range, although attempts are now being made to protect them, especially in Argentina.

      The guanaco is both a grazer and a browser, and is quite adaptable. Some guanacos live in one of the driest deserts in the world (the Atacama in Chile) while others live in the wet archipelago of Tierra del Fuego, where rain falls year round.

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