Problematic behavior in llamas
and
misdirected territorial aggression
Do you have a llama whose behavior scares
you? You're not alone.
Llamas don't behave like the animals we grew
up reading about or interacting with, and so scary and dangerous
behaviors often develop without the handler or owner even knowing
that something is wrong ... until it is really wrong.
The good news is that you CAN do something about these behaviors
if you are willing to seek qualified help.
If you've been looking for clues to your llama's
frightening behavior, you've probably found many references to
the so-called Berserk Syndrome or Berserk Male Syndrome (BMS)
and it's supposed irreversability. "Berserk" simply
means "crazy," and it also implies absolution of blame
for handlers and owners. But, barring acquired brain damage,
llamas never "go berserk." Their frightening behavior
is completely natural, understandable, avoidable, and alterable
... if you take the time to learn about it.
Tragically, the "berserk" label
is quickly placed on any llama that does something puzzling or
makes someone nervous, and many, many perfectly normal llamas
with easily-addressable problems are misdiagnosed and suffer
at the hands of terrified, uninformed owners ... AND veterinarians.
Remember that veterinarians are medical specialists, not
behavioral experts or trainers. They can only act with
the information they're given, and they get most of their non-medical
"information" from other llama owners, who frequently
mean well, but don't have the qualifications necessary to evaluate
the validity of what they are repeating.
About territorial
aggression
At maturity, male guanacoes (wild llamas)
are instinctively driven to choose and defend a territory. The
purpose of this drive is to provide a relatively safe, well-defended
place for females to live and raise their young, and hopefully
to provide the male with an opportunity to pass on his genes
to the offspring of most or all of these females. This instinct
is very strong, and it is present to some degree in every llama.
It is as natural for a male llama to want to claim and defend
territory as it is for a cat to catch and play with mice, or
for a dog to chase things that move.
Some llamas are not very territorial; others
are extremely so. The strength of this drive is definitively
a genetically-transmitted (heritable) trait.
For domestic male llamas, territory is not
confined to the area within the boundary made by the fence. It
also includes everything within their range of sight. A territorial
male will become agitated when another male or gelding is walked
through an adjacent pasture -- not because the animal "might"
become a threat, but because the animal has already breached
the bounds of that male's territory and thus constitutes a threat
according to the male's instincts.
Misdirected territorial
aggression
Territorial males typically direct their aggression
toward other male llamas, but their impulse is not really confined
to males of their own species. The impulse is actually to drive
out anything that makes them uncomfortable. When
this impulse is directed at dogs and coyotes and other predators,
we generally think it's wonderful. But when llamas are uncomfortable
with us and attempt to resolve their discomfort by driving humans
out of their perceived territory, we understandably get upset.
Sometimes the discomfort of humans is learned,
but more often, these llamas' territorial impulse is simply misdirected
at humans and other beings who do not pose any actual threat.
In a wild guanaco, this would generally go unnoticed; in a domestic
llama, this trait is unacceptable for herd and caretaker safety.
Why do these llamas' instincts get out of
hand? There appears to be several causes. In some llamas, excessive
testosterone (or too-abundant or too-sensitive testosterone receptors)
clouds judgement and makes the llama attack anything and everything.
Humans just happen to be included in "everything."
In others, a heightened fear response combined with a tendency
to respond to fear with aggression translates to aggression toward
anything that makes the llama nervous. In some cases, humans
are included in "anything that makes the llama nervous."
Is misdirected or heightened territorial aggression
a mishandling problem? Yes and no. Yes, inappropriate and inept
handling (and poor management choices) can definitely exacerbate
these llamas' behavior. But the inherited abnormality -- the
abnormal aggressive and territorial tendencies -- must first
be present for that aggression to be directed at anything, let
alone misdirected at human caretakers!
Progression of misdirected
territorial aggression
Misdirected territorial aggression does not
appear overnight, even though the preliminary symptoms may not
be recognized for what they are. A male llama who is abnormally
uncomfortable with humans first shows his discomfort with clucking
and posturing.
If not castrated, or if castrated but still
nervous, the male may then increase these threats by delivering
them from higher ground. He will also begin planting himself
in humans' paths, causing the humans to move around him (and
thus forcing them into an admission of lower rank). He may also
bump into humans when impatient or when trying to gain control
of a situation (usually at feeding time) -- only lightly at first,
but stronger and stronger when light bumps neither gain him anything
nor cost him the negative disciplinary measure such as another
llama would mete out.
The maturing territorial male may also become
agitated and physically bump or attack humans as they clean up
his manure. He deliberately places his manure to enforce his
territorial claims, and any disturbance is the equivalent of
not just ignoring, but ripping down "No Trespassing"
signs and waltzing onto the previously signed property as if
you owned it. He doesn't understand the first thing about good
sanitation practices. He does understand what his instincts and
hormones are telling him to do -- get rid of all manure vandals!
The aggressive male may also rush up to humans
as they enter his pasture, or enter their personal space (defined
as the amount of space a normal llama would consider "personal")
without explicit permission. These transgressions then progress
to bumping or, if a human becomes unnerved and tries to leave,
the llama then chasing the human, being pleased with the results,
and then expecting to successfully chase and expel first that
human and gradually all humans from the pasture.
A male llama with full-blown, uncorrected
misdirected territorial aggression typically becomes agitated
when a human walks into his visual range -- just as the normal
territorial male becomes agitated when another male or gelding
llama enters the part of his territory outside his fence but
inside his clear range of vision. As the male becomes more frustrated
with his inability to expel these humans, he may attempt to frighten
the human "intruder" off by charging or climbing on
the fence, spitting and screaming at the injustice of being unable
to resolve the trespass against him. He is dead serious, and
make no mistake -- a llama who has been allowed to progress to
this point IS dangerous, and stout facilities along with a qualified
rehabilitator will be necessary to deal with him.
The first symptoms that indicate a llama is
at significant risk for developing misdirected or excessive territorial
aggression typically begin between 12-18 months; the less dismissable
(and frightening) problems typically come to an undeniable head
at age 2 or 3 years.
For llamas with mild, preliminary symptoms,
full reversal of the offending behaviors is generally accomplished
easily when the advice of a successful rehabilitator is sought
out and followed. Once a llama has actually progressed to the
point that he believes he has established a territory, he can
almost never be rehabilitated on site. Llamas are extremely visually
oriented, and they form strong associations between specific
locations and specific behaviors. In short, for them, practice
makes permanent. Even after such a llama is relieved of his hormones
and otherwise completely cured of his aggressive behavior off
site, he can never return to the location where his behavior
became a serious problem -- he will simply resume the territorial
behavior as if he had never left.
First step
Castrate ASAP!!! In every single case
we've dealt with, castration has helped, and sometimes castration
alone has resolved the problem completely. The longer
you wait to castrate, the more difficult it will be to return
the male to handleability, the more likely it is that you will
have to surrender the animal to a qualified rehabilitator --
if one can be found who has an opening for the animal. In short,
the longer you delay, the more likely it is that you will have
to pay out more money to euthanize and dispose of the llama instead.
Between the clear heritability of fear and
aggression and the considerably increased difficulties "getting
through to" intact males as compared to the same animals
when gelded, we and other ethical rehabilitators refuse to work
with anyone who will not castrate their difficult male immediately.
It's a waste of our time, and it's also just as unethical as
providing surgical correction of a hereditary defect without
also removing the animal from the gene pool.
We've heard every excuse to not castrate,
and frankly, there's not one that holds up under scrutiny.
Some people (and some out-of-the-loop veterinarians)
refuse to castrate llamas under a certain age (the exact age
they purport as "acceptable" varies from 18 months
to 3 years). These people confuse the problems of too-early (pre-12
months) castration with castration before full physical maturity,
and argue that they don't want to risk hurting their llama. But
if a llama in the early stages of problem behavior is not castrated,
he will have to be euthanized. Now that's a much more serious
risk than any real or imagined disability from castration! If
your regular veterinarian refuses to castrate a young llama who
clearly has problematic or aggressive behavior, find another
veterinarian who will do the procedure. (For more extensive information
on castration age, click
here.)
Others have been told that castration won't
help (particularly in older llamas); some add that they don't
want to waste the money in case it doesn't help. In the latter
case, why waste their time and ours? Rehabilitation is a significant
commitment of time and effort. As for the former, when we ask
if the person giving the advice has actually tried it, and the
answer is almost always "no." In the few cases where
the advisor has tried castration, a few more questions quickly
reveal that castration was the only thing tried
-- no management practices were altered -- and that castration
did indeed help even though it was not a complete cure.
Finally, some people tell us that they planned
to breed the animal. It may be difficult to accept the necessity
of castrating a particular animal when your original plans were
otherwise, but there are many, many male llamas out there, most
of whom do not have behavioral problems. An aggressive male obviously
causes his owners more agony than they are willing to live with
if they are bothering to consult us or another rehabilitator.
When we point out what a living hell life would be if 50% (a
reasonable estimate) of his offspring act just like him, the
case for castration becomes crystal clear.
Next steps -- breaking
the cycle and obtaining help
After castration, move the llama completely
off his territory (that means out of the visual territory boundaries,
not just out of his old pasture) and into an older, stronger
male's (or gelding's) well-established territory as soon after
castration as it is medically feasable.
You may take advantage of our extensive knowledge
and experience through phone or email
consultation for free. If the situation is unusual and better
dealt with through videotape
training correspondence, we will let you know, but most llamas'
behavior can be successfully addressed by a few phone or email
exchanges.
If we know of someone in your area that is
qualified to work with you, we can refer you to that person.
Above all, if you intend to succeed, DO NOT
take advice from people who have only failed -- or who usually
fail -- to rehabilitate llamas. Many llamas have been needlessly
killed after a self-proclaimed "expert" declared that
they could not be saved, whether before or after working with
the llama (and sometimes after doing the wrong things and making
the situation worse).
Although we fully expect to one day find a
llama we cannot get through to, we have a 100% success record
thus far, including one llama declared dangerous by a famous
trainer-clinician and many more llamas declared hopeless and
in need of immediate euthanasia by a plethora of self-proclaimed
experts, including long-time llama owners, breeders, and veterinarians.
These llamas have all gone on to become well-loved, trusted animals,
even for first-time llama owners. That alone should speak for
itself.
Prevention
Don't breed from aggressive llamas -- male
or female
Diminish inherited territorial instincts through
responsible breeding choices
Select away from guarding instincts and tendencies
unless specifically breeding llamas that will only be placed
as livestock guarding llamas
Raise young males and geldings with one or
more healthy, assertive adult geldings who will teach them manners;
keep all young intact males within the territory of an established
male
Do not breed males before they have had ample
time to learn to control their hormones and impulses (age 4-5
years minimum; 6 or older is better) -- remember that a male's
value as an individual (and thus a potential breeder) cannot
truly be confirmed before this time anyway.
Avoid keeping geldings with females (encourages
territorial and possessive impulses); never keep geldings with
females if the geldings show sexual interest or have had sexual
experience; NEVER keep ANY late geldings (males castrated after
15 months) with females, period.
Promptly castrate all young males that challenge
adult llamas or who show unusual or excessive fear, aggression,
or territoriality.
Learn the rules for handling
young llamas correctly before you get them and definitely
before you even consider breeding llamas.
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