Marlyce Parsons, age 12p of Des Moines, Io

What is a guanaco?

The story of the guanaco goes back into the dim past before the Ice Ages. The dinosaurs had long since gone from the scene and the climate of North America was warm and balmy. The mammals had taken over the world, The ancestors of the horse and the camel grazed and browsed among the fresh greenery and roamed in great herds over the plains.

The horse and the camel families got their start in North America. The fossil bones of their ancestors have been found in abundance and their story has been pieced together bit by bit. We do not know how, but some of the horses reached Asia and Europe and some of the camels got as far as Africa. We do not know what happened to those who remained at home, but there were no horses or camels in North America when the Spanish arrived.

In South America, however, the Spaniards found strange animals that reminded them somewhat of sheep and goats with perhaps a little antelope blended in the mixture. They met the llama and the alpaca, the vicuna and the guanaco. These animals were obviously closely related to each other, but very different from any animal of the Old World ‑ or so it seemed.

Science, however, has shown that these South American cousins are members of the camel family. They are descended$ no doubt, from ancestors who strayed southward from their homeland and settled among the grassy slopes of the Andes. They are much smaller than the old world camels and they have no humps. But they have the same dignified walk and the same haughty expression which we see on the face of the African camel.

The guanaco stands about three and a half feet tall at shoulder level.  He is used as a beast of burden, but is far more valuable as a fur­ bearing animal. His woolly coat is pale golden brown and soft as silk.  The wool may be sheared and woven into cloth, The pelt may be used to make fur coats and trimmings. This does not end the valuable little fellows usefulness, for Indian tribes of the Andes consider guanaco meat a great delicacy.

Herds of guanaco are carefully nurtured on large farms, for the valuable animals do not multiply at a great rate. Mrs. Guanaco has no more than one baby each year. Though Junior is an only child, he is far from spoiled. For six weeks, the little fellow is fed on mother's milk and at the age of three months he must make his own way in the world.

Not so long ago, guanacos were wild creatures and some herds still roam freely among the mountains. They are sure‑footed animals and very agile, for they are built for life among the slopes and craggy peaks. In the past, their herds also roamed the plains of Argentina and reached down to Cape Horn. There they often crossed from island to island, swimming through the sea,