Sisters llamas are vital to research

An international team of camelid researchers recently visited the Sisters' Hinterland Llama Ranch, owned and operated by Kay and Eric Sharpnack. Dr. David L. Kooyman, professor in the Department of Physiology and Developmental Biology in the College of Biology and Agriculture at Brigham Young University (BYU) brought a team together at the ranch to study genetics of the Hinterland llamas.

BYU's portion of the project is currently being funded by the Ezra Taft Benson Agriculture and Food Institute (BAFI) located at BYU. The BAFI is owned by BYU, but its work is supported largely by private donations.

Dr. Kooyman, a specialist in molecular biology of South American Camelids: Llamas, Alpacas, Guanacos, and Vicunas, is out for blood - literally.

Because Kay had the foresight to keep careful records on the family history of the llamas she has worked with over the years, Dr. Kooyman is able to study the underlying genetic causes of birth weight, disease resistance and other aspects of llama health.

BYU researchers are working closely with government and non-governmental agencies throughout Argentina, Bolivia, Chile, Ecuador and Peru to strengthen families of native peoples living on the Alto Plano by improving standards of living and nutrition through improved camelid production.

In some cases, the researchers collaborate with scientists employed in country universities or government entities in cutting-edge research. In other cases, they work with non-governmental agencies. In Riobamba, Ecuador, they are working closely with the Catholic Church which has already established a program to help the rural poor to improve llama production, employing techniques such as micro credit and educational outreach programs.

Other areas the researchers are working on include: improving range conditions; establishing clean slaughter houses and meat processing plants; improving/increasing hair/fiber usage and leather products; strengthening families; teaching proper nutrition; and budgeting of income.

Past well-meaning efforts to bring about better living conditions for the 10 to 12 million people living throughout South America by introducing sheep, goats and cattle have largely failed and have done more harm than good in some cases.

Camelids found throughout much of South America adapted to the volcanic, high altitude environment of the Palo Alto and have a better potential of helping native peoples who already rely on them for survival.

Dr. Kooyman and his team are using the llamas of the Hinterlands to bring about better understanding of the underlying genetic causes of favorable traits that can enhance the production of camelids in the region.

"Camelids adapted over millions of years in South America," Dr. Kooyman said, adding, "Cattle and sheep don't perform well in the high elevation and poor forage that exists in much of the Alto Plano."

Oddly enough, Camelids evolved in North America and were very widespread in South America when the Spaniards arrived. Back in the '50s, camel bones collected from Fossil Lake near Christmas Valley in Lake County were on display in the Valley Falls Junction Store on Highway 395 near Lakeview. There are also Pleistocene camelid fossils on display in the John Day Fossil Beds National Monument Museum near Dayville.

The early ancestors of camels migrated from North America to Asia by a crossing the Alaskan land bridge and spread south through the Panama land connection to South America. For unknown reasons, they eventually became extinct in North America, but began to thrive in their new lands south of the equator in South America.

Camelids became browsers and grazers, picking away at plant life lightly, taking a sprig here and another there. In this way they left plants to prosper and feed them another day.

Cattle and sheep are grazers and tend to eat closer to the ground creating barren lands. Goats, while browsers, are much less discriminating than camelids and tend to destroy ecosystems. In addition, camelids have adapted a unique padded hoof that does not damage the ground - another huge ecological benefit.