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The Andean cat is rarely seen and generally not well-known [3] The spectacled bear is the only South American bear. The vicuña and guanaco can be found living in the Altiplano, while the closely related domesticated llama and alpaca are widely kept by locals as pack animals and for their meat and wool.
The llama (/ ˈ l ɑː m ə /; Spanish pronunciation: or ) (Lama glama) is a domesticated South American camelid, widely used as a meat and pack animal by Andean cultures since the pre-Columbian era. Llamas are social animals and live with others as a herd. Their wool is soft and contains only a small amount of lanolin. [2]
The vicuña (Lama vicugna) or vicuna [3] (both / v ɪ ˈ k uː n j ə /, very rarely spelled vicugna, its former genus name) [4] [5] is one of the two wild South American camelids, which live in the high alpine areas of the Andes; the other camelid is the guanaco, which lives at lower elevations.
More recently, alpacas may be found on farms and ranches worldwide, with thousands of animals born and raised annually. Alpacas are especially popular in North America, Europe, and Australia. There are two modern breeds of alpaca, separated based on their respective region of endemism and fiber (wool) type: the Suri alpaca and the Huacaya alpaca .
Among South America's extant, native land animals, only the Baird's tapir, South American tapir and mountain tapir are heavier than the bear. [7] The spectacled bear is a mid-sized species of bear. Overall, its fur is blackish in colour, though bears may vary from jet black to dark brown and to even a reddish hue.
A pack animal, also known as a sumpter animal or beast of burden, is a working animal used to transport goods or materials by carrying them, usually on its back. Domestic animals of many species are used in this way, among them alpacas , Bactrian camels , donkeys , dromedaries , gayal , goats , horses , llamas , mules , reindeer , water ...
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Natural predators of the guanaco include pumas and the culpeo or Andean fox. [8] Fox predation was unknown until 2007 when predators began to be observed in the Karukinka Reserve in Tierra del Fuego. Scientists attribute this to the unfavourable climatic conditions on the island, which are causing food to become scarce, weakening the animals.