Cotton agrees, saying that many people who got into the ratite craze had a “quick dollar mind set rather than the kind of mind set to build an enterprise over the long term.” By the end of the 1990's, the market was so depressed that owners had a hard time giving the animals away. Cotton tells the story of a truck accident on I-25 outside of Pueblo in 1997 involving 20 ostriches that were on their way to California. Several ostriches were killed in the accident, but 12 animals were taken to a local vet for treatment. When the ostrich owner was faced with the vet bill and the cost of additional transportation for the birds from Pueblo, he told the vet to keep them. The vet didn’t want the birds either.
Unlike
ostriches, llamas, from the camelid family, are raised in the U.S. for utility
and fiber rather than meat. When Jim McConaghy’s wife wanted to go backpacking
but couldn’t carry a backpack anymore, she told her husband that what
they needed was a llama to carry the gear. They bought a couple of pack llamas
in 1989 for their own use. The McConaghys, owners of Antero Llamas north of
Salida, now own 43 llamas.
McConaghy breeds, raises and rents llamas as pack animals. “We’ve rented our llamas for as long as an entire season to a couple who hiked the Continental Divide Trail from Mexico to Colorado,” says McConaghy. Hikers who want to rent the llamas for backpack trips receive a couple of hours training on how to care for the llamas. Then McConaghy takes them on a short hike, teaching how to lead the animals. He will trailer the animals to the trail head or hikers can rent his trailer and take the animals themselves.
When the llama industry was booming in the late 1980's, McConaghy says show animals could sell for $170,000. “They still can sell in the tens of thousands of dollars, with the average price for a llama at the Oklahoma City Celebrity Sale in April running around $5,000,” says McConaghy. However, the price of an average llama has dropped 60 percent since the early 1990s.
“Llamas came into the U.S. from three or four other countries with uncontrolled importation. A lot of animals became available in the world market and the quality went from exceptional to run of the mill.” Cotton says success in the llama industry right now depends on marketing. The llama rancher needs to be able to develop his own market, have good animals and do a good job selling them.
McConaghy still finds raising llamas profitable. He sold three animals in the last two weeks, one as a pack animal, a female for breeding, and another as a guard animal. “Llamas still bring a price that makes it worthwhile raising them,” says McConaghy. He admits that he could work harder at marketing his animals. He’d like to try to convince youth camping programs to use llamas for packing rather than horses. “They’re safer to handle than horses, easier on trails and more sure-footed on rocks,” says McConaghy.
Even so, it’s sometimes hard to convince people to take llamas, who will carry your gear while you walk, rather than horses you can ride, according to outfitter-guide Jones. “Sometimes I get a call from prospective guests who don’t understand that I take out llamas rather than horses. As soon they hear they’ll have to walk instead of ride, they decide not to come.”
Jones started Spruce Ridge Llamas as a guide business, taking people on backpacking trips using the llamas as pack animals. He also breeds and sells the animals. “I thought I would be able to build a business and start crossing over to the camping business, developing a camping experience using the llamas. I haven’t been able to do it though, because of county regulations and expenses,” says Jones
Brett Beasley, U.S. Forest Service forestry technician on the Salida Ranger District, agrees that horses still get the largest part of the packing business when it comes to back country travel. Both Jones and McConaghy have outfitter-guide permits issued by the Salida Ranger District to take trips into the San Isabel National Forest.
“The horse permitees and the llama permitees cater to different types of trips. With the horses, a guest can take a one hour trip. More time and effort are involved in taking a llama trip. Both groups provide a public need, offering a service to a special population, but the horse permitees do much more business.” says Beasley.
A growing demand for llamas is for use as guard animals. McConaghy lent one of his llamas to a friend who was worried about coyotes bothering her children. The llama follows the kids around the yard and keeps coyotes away.
