Llama vs Alpaca: How to Tell Them Apart in Peru

On the road to Rainbow Mountain the van slows for a herd crossing the asphalt, and everyone in the back seat says the same word at once: llamas. Your guide laughs. Most of them are alpacas, she says, the short ones with the woolly faces. The llama is the tall one at the back with the long ears, looking down at the van as if it owns the road. By the end of the day you can tell them apart from fifty yards away.

Short answer: A llama is the bigger animal, up to about 1.8 m (5 ft 11 in) tall at the head and up to 272 kg (600 lb), with long banana-shaped ears, bred as a pack animal. An alpaca is smaller, about 81 to 99 cm (32 to 39 in) at the shoulder and up to 90 kg (198 lb), with short pointed ears and a woolly face, bred for its fine fleece.

Both are domesticated South American camelids, both live in the Peruvian Andes and both will look you in the eye while you take their picture. Here is how to tell them apart, where they came from, and where to see llamas, alpacas and their wild cousins on a trip to Peru.

Llama vs alpaca at a glance

The quickest way to tell them apart is size, ears and face. Look at the ears first. They do not lie.

How to tell a llama from an alpaca

A llama stands taller than most people at the head, and an alpaca comes up to about your waist at the shoulder. If you are standing next to the animal, that settles it. From a distance, use these three clues in order.

The ears

Llama ears are long and curve inward at the tips, a shape breeders call banana ears. Alpaca ears are short, straight and pointed, like spearheads. Ear shape is the most reliable clue, because size changes with age and fleece changes with shearing.

The face

A llama has a long face with short hair on it, so you see the shape of its nose and jaw. An alpaca has a short, blunt face, often half hidden under a fluffy topknot of wool. If the animal looks like a teddy bear, it is an alpaca.

The fleece and the build

Llamas have a coarser coat and a lean, long-legged frame, built for walking with a load. Alpacas are compact and covered in dense, soft fleece. Most alpacas are of the Huacaya type, about 90% of the population, with crimped, fluffy fiber. The rest are Suri, whose fleece hangs in long, silky locks.

Where they came from

Llamas and alpacas were domesticated in the Andes from wild ancestors at least 5,000 to 6,000 years ago. DNA studies point to the guanaco as the wild ancestor of the llama and to the vicuña, the smaller and finer-haired wild species, as the ancestor of the alpaca.

In the Inca Empire, llamas were the only beasts of burden. Caravans of them carried goods along the Inca road system, and their wool, meat and dung (used as fuel) kept highland life going. A llama can carry about 25 to 30% of its body weight for 8 to 13 km (5 to 8 miles), which is why you will not see anyone riding one.

Wool: why alpaca ends up in your sweater

Alpaca fleece is the soft one, and it is the reason alpacas exist. Llama fiber is coarser, about 20 to 40 micrometers depending on the type, and goes into rugs, ropes and outer layers. Alpaca fiber is finer and softer, and it goes into sweaters, scarves and blankets.

Peru has more than half of the world's alpacas, and most of them graze on the high plains of the southern Andes, around Cusco, Puno and Arequipa. When a stall in Cusco or Pisac sells you an alpaca sweater, ask what share is alpaca and what share is synthetic. Real baby alpaca, from the first shearing, costs more and feels it.

The vicuña, Peru's national animal

The vicuña is the wild relative of the alpaca and the national animal of Peru, shown on its coat of arms. Its fiber, about 12 micrometers across, is among the finest in the world, finer than cashmere. Only Inca royalty could wear it. Hunting cut the population to about 6,000 animals by the 1960s. Protection since 1969 has brought it back to roughly 350,000. Communities shear wild vicuñas in a round-up called the chaccu and release them again.

Do llamas and alpacas spit?

Yes, both do, mostly at each other, over food or rank in the herd. An annoyed alpaca can spit up to about 3 m (10 ft). They rarely spit at people who leave them alone. Do not grab a llama by the neck for a photo, and keep your hands away from their faces.

Where to see llamas and alpacas in Peru

You will see both on almost any trip into the Andes. These are the places where they come closest.

• The road to Rainbow Mountain: herds of llamas and alpacas graze near the trailhead and along the path. Our Rainbow Mountain tour from Cusco costs US$137 per person.
• Sacsayhuamán and the streets of Cusco: women in traditional dress walk llamas and baby alpacas around the old town and above it, and ask a small tip for a photo. See our guide to Sacsayhuamán.
• Machu Picchu: a small group of llamas grazes the terraces of the citadel and wanders into most visitors' photos.
• The road to the Colca Canyon: wild vicuñas graze in the Salinas y Aguada Blanca reserve beside the road from Arequipa. See our Colca Canyon guide.
• The altiplano around Puno: big alpaca herds on the high plains on the way to Lake Titicaca.

If you are choosing between Rainbow Mountains, our guide to which Rainbow Mountain to visit compares Vinicunca and Palccoyo. Alpaca also appears on menus in Cusco, grilled like steak, and our guide to Peruvian food covers it with the other highland dishes.