两只原驼, 托雷斯德尔帕恩国家公园 , 智利 Guanacos, Torres del Paine National Park, Chile (© Floris van Breugel/NPL/Minden Pictures)

态度和高度 Attitude and altitude

原驼, 托雷斯德尔帕恩国家公园 , 智利

原驼是南美洲的本土动物，主要分布在美洲大陆中西部一带，大多栖息在秘鲁与玻利维亚交界的安第斯山脉。原驼生性机警敏捷，喜欢成群外出觅食，性格相对温顺。

原驼是一种体型优雅修长的动物，肩高1.0至1.3米，体长2.1至2.2米，体重90至140公斤。它们的体色变化很小，背上没有驼峰，大多数身上披满红褐色的毛，内层的绒毛为白色。与原驼同属的其他朋友还有：骆驼、骆驼、羊驼等。

Llama Day

Prick up your ears and crane your neck—it's National Llama Day. Part of a family that includes camels, alpacas, and guanacos, llamas have long been domesticated in South America because of their hardiness and ability to thrive on the bleak vegetation in the mountains and plateaus of the Andes. At up to 6 feet tall and weighing up to 400 pounds, they were used primarily as pack animals for about 6,500 years. They were also bred as a source of food, hides, tallow for candles, dung for fuel, and fabric. While inferior to alpaca and guanaco wool, llama fleece is soft, warm, durable, and fairly lightweight. It's used for clothing, rugs, and rope.

Unlike their wild guanaco cousins, seen in today's image in Torres del Paine National Park, Chile, llamas have been popular on farms across the US since the 1980s. Llamas are surprisingly clean, smart, and loyal companions that can even be trained as therapy animals. Their gentle nature has made them popular at petting zoos and farms, and unlike their camel cousins, they rarely spit at humans. They're also good guard animals that will charge at predators and scream at intruders. With a population of almost 30,000 in the country, Americans have clearly fallen in love with llamas.

标签: 智利