I was going to touch on this in a separate post, but I can see it’s already made its way to Tumblr, so hello again everyone, welcome to another “teachable moment”. Also, sorry that this may be a little long, but this is a super important area to discuss, for reasons outlined below.
So, to start off with, the behaviour this alpaca is engaging in is 100% NOT okay, and is 100% NOT normal. I know the poster edited their video to say that they feel comfortable and safe with this behaviour (which may be fine for them, although I find it curious that all of their photos and videos are taken from the other side of the fence) however, I am here to tell you that as someone who has worked with hundreds of alpacas, who is part of a community of owners who collectively have worked with thousands of alpacas and llamas alike across the world (who are all in agreement, BTW.), this kind of behaviour is NOT normal, and is the kind of behaviour which can become a precursor to more dangerous behaviours, which can and have hurt people.
What we are seeing is an animal displaying sexual aggression towards a human, which is not a good thing. That noise he is making is called an “orgle”, which is the noise males make when they are trying to “woo” their partner to lay down, so that they may breed them. There is speculation that the sound of orgling also helps stimulate the female’s reproductive tract to better improve the chances of a pregnancy; but in practice, many females won’t lay down for a male who isn’t orgling.
So yes, he is excited to see her. He is very excited to see her, just not the kind of excitement she seems to think it is.
Alpacas and Llamas who display sexual aggression towards humans are often the unlucky recipients of well meaning, but ultimately misguided handling practices, and are extremely likely to develop another behavioural problem called “Aberrant Behaviour Syndrome” (ABS), which was previously known as “Berserk Male Syndrome” (BMS).
Animals who are at highest risk of developing ABS usually fall into a few categories:
- Were weaned early and separated from the herd to live alone or away from other camelids.
- Were hand-reared, away from other llamas and alpacas.
- Were improperly socialized as young animals, which may have included being overwhelmed by strangers constantly petting/touching (as in a petting-zoo situation), or having been overwhelmed by stressful situations on a regular basis.
- Are currently being housed alone away from other llamas and alpacas, and have been kept in isolation for a long time.
- Were curious as babies, and allowed to engage in “cute” play behaviours such as jumping up, nibbling, picking at clothes, etc.
- Are more likely to be male, however females can develop these behavioural problems too.
Many of these handling practices are carried over from other species, like goats and cows, where hand-rearing and allowing babies to “play” like this is used to encourage the animals to be more human-friendly as adults. However, llamas and alpacas are not cows and goats, so when handled in this manner, the end-result is drastically different.
Camelids with ABS are likely to engage in all sorts of dangerous behaviours, which may include
- jumping up on people
- chest-butting people
- knocking people over
- this may be followed by mounting/orgling
- or may be followed by biting and stomping
- biting people
- wrapping their necks around legs to pull your feet out from under you
- “rushing” where the animal runs at you with their head down, or while with their head up
- “rushing” may also include a “clucking” noise, which is a noise some males will use to challenge other males to fight
- chasing/herding people in the pen
- stomping and excessive kicking at people nearby
- pushes you around/gets super up close in your personal space
The sad thing is, that it takes a lot of time and dedication to train an animal with these behaviours out of engaging in them, and once they have displayed these behaviours, they can never be 100% trusted to not revert to them again (because no behaviour can be completely unlearned). Most males will end up needing to be castrated once they start engaging in these behaviours because the hormones in an intact male will only add fuel to the fire. Particularly bad cases are often euthanized, because they are a danger to their handlers.
It is even sadder knowing that ABS seems to be extremely easy to prevent in the majority of cases (because, as with any behavioural issue, one cannot account for all issues of abuse or physical trauma and whether an animal will develop problematic behaviours). As herd animals, llamas and alpacas need to be kept with other llamas and alpacas, especially as juveniles. Even if an animal needs to be bottle-fed because their mother cannot supply them with milk, bottle-fed cria can often go on to develop normal, healthy behaviours if they are kept with other llamas and alpacas when not being fed. Keeping young llamas and alpacas with their herd, and not letting them “play” with you in ways which will become scarier dangerous if they do this to you as a 150lb adult, seems to be, by and large, the easiest way to prevent ABS from developing.
Because lamas engage in strict social order amongst one another, and recognize very clear personal space boundaries, when young llamas and alpacas are raised with the herd, the other herd members “teach” them what are and are not appropriate behaviours, and also show them how to be a normal camelid. When we raise llamas and alpacas away from other camelids, they never really learn how to distinguish us humans from other members of their camelid herd, making us fair-game for behaviours that would normally be reprimanded soundly by other llama and alpaca herd members.
As humans, we also have completely different connotations behind affection-behaviours. Humans are a species that engages in social grooming, and we enjoy touching each other immensely and use it to display affection (as do dogs, cats, horses and cows!); however, llamas and alpacas do not engage in social grooming. They don’t like touching each other unless it is for purposes of procreation or competition (for reference, mother llamas and alpacas don’t even lick their babies clean after they have been born). So when we “coddle” or “play with” babies who don’t have adult camelids as a barometer, their instincts are telling them that we’re playing with them when they’re little, and when they’re adults and their priorities change, we’re no longer playing but are challenging them for breeding rights or territory.
In short, the alpaca in this video is engaging in a behaviour which has the capacity to turn very south very quick for his owner if he is allowed to continue to behave in this manner. She is lucky that there is a physical barrier between the two of them, because many males who show this level of sexual aggression, will readily knock people over and will attempt to breed them, which is not good for anyone involved.
It is especially concerning to me as a camelid owner, to see that the woman who own’s this animal has multiple videos of him engaging in the same behaviour (with her safely on the other side of the fence); as well as photos and videos of him actually jumping on her while very clearly trying to mount her.
If you have a llama or alpaca who engages in this kind of behaviour (or any of the behaviours listed above) or you know someone who does; I cannot emphasize enough how important it is to reach out to your local llama/alpaca organization to find experienced breeders near you, who can hopefully help you curb those behaviours in your animal before you, or a loved one, or a future owner of that animal (because sadly, these kinds of animals get passed around a lot because they are so difficult to handle) get hurt.
These behaviours are not normal, and they are not okay or cute. They are a disaster waiting to happen.
Sorry to be a buzzkill, but this is an important aspect of camelid husbandry, that many people overlook and then ultimately regret (or worse, experience and then become afraid of the animals because they don’t know its not normal!).
