THE LIVING ANIMALS 
OF THE WORLD 
be Warde f ¥ 
Photo by Charles Knight] 
BACTRIAN CAMEL 
The most useful transport animal of Central Asia 
THE LLAMAS 
THE LLAMAS are humpless camels, and 
confined to the western and southernmost 
parts of South America. Two wild and two 
domesticated species are known. The name 
Llama,itshould bementioned, properlybelongs 
to the domesticated animal of that name. 
THE VICUNA 
This is the smaller of the two wild 
species. Vicufias live in herds in the 
mountain-ranges of Peru, dwelling during the 
wet season high up amid rocks and precipices, 
near the region of perpetual snow. In the 
dry season they descend to the higher valleys. 
Their capture is a matter of great difficulty; 
for, apart from the inaccessible nature of their 
haunts, they are exceedingly shy and vigilant. 
They are clothed in a woolly coat of extremely 
delicate texture, much in demand for weaving 
purposes. 
The baby vicufia, it is interesting to 
note, is able to run swittly directly after 
its birth, and possesses great powers of 
[ Aldershot : 
distinguished from its Arabian relative by the 
fact that it has two humps, is shorter in 
the leg and heavier, and has longer hair 
and stouter and harder feet. The shorter 
legs are distinctly advantageous, enabling the 
animal to get about with ease and safety over 
rocky and hilly ground. 
The hordes of wild camels found in 
Turkestan, in the neighbourhood of Kashgar, 
are believed by Major C. S. Cumberland to 
be descended from camels which escaped 
when the district known as Takla Makan was 
buried in a great sand-storm 200 years ago. 
From the fury of that storm it is said no 
human being escaped alive. Some camels 
apparently did, perhaps owing their survival 
to the power they possess of closing the 
nostrils, and thereby keeping out the sand. 
The Bactrian camel lives upon the salt 
and bitter plants of the steppes, which are 
rejected by almost all other animals. It is 
further able to drink brackish water from the 
salt lakes by which it is surrounded. When 
pressed by hunger, it will even eat felt blankets, 
bones and skins of other animals, and fish! 7 
YOUNG BACTRIAN CAMEL 
The two humps are just beginning to grow 
