Guanacos are mammals belonging to the family of Camelids (or Camelidae). You might have seen them mentioned in the comments of my post Vicuñas. They are the wild ancestors of Llamas and both of these Camelids live at similar heights, but the Guanaco tends to live further down. They live in Peru, where they are naturally from, Chile, and Argentina, though smaller populations of them might live in the rest of South America. At one time, they were hunted for their thick, warm fur (as were Vicuñas). They usually stand between 1-1.3m, and an adult can weigh around 90-160kg (198.4-352.7lb). Like Alpacas, Vicuñas and Llamas, these friendly animals, when feeling threatened and as a mechanism of defence spit surprisingly accurately at their targets. They live in herds with on adult male, numerous females and several young guanacos (called Guanacquitos or Chulengos). This is because they have less chance of being hunted if a predator is near, as there are many targets to choose from and it would be confusing.

Guanacos use sound and body to show how they feel. For example, when the ears are up, it means the guanaco is relaxed. Ears forward means the guanaco is alarmed, and ears laid flat shows aggression. A tail pointing down is normal, straight out is a sign of an alert guanaco, and straight up is an aggressive signal. A nose-to-nose encounter is a type of greeting, while slouching down indicates submission. They also use different sounds to communicate, such as high pitched shrills, snorting, shrieking and making a bleat to signal alarm.

Guanacos are the largest herbivores in South America’s dry areas, but surprisingly they do not need water on a day-to-day basis. They get all the nutrients and moisture from the food they eat and have a special digestive system within the stomach to digest the different types of plants they eat. Guanacos give birth to young every other year, and their main predators are mountain lions. Usually, females give birth to one or two young at around the same time, as mountain lions can only carry of one or two young at a time, giving the young more chance of survival. Newborns can stand just five minutes after birth! This is so they can follow their mother immediately. They will be weaned at 6-8 months, and leave their mother at 11-12 months, young males will form a group with other young males, and young females join a family group.