After posting my last llama photo of my daughter’s neighbors, I started to wonder if I had indeed posted a domesticated llama or an alpaca. They are very similar, so I did a little research. Differential characteristics between llamas and alpacas include the larger size, longer head, and curved ears. Alpaca fiber is generally more expensive, but not always more valuable. Alpacas tend to have a more consistent color throughout the body. So I may have posted a picture of alpacas, but here at the Renaissance Festival is a “llama” I think because it’s coloration varied much more and has the curved ears. Frankly, I can’t see the difference in the size or size of the head between the two animals I’ve met, but I may have misled you in the first photo and indeed they are alpacas, not llamas.
Netdancer's Musings 