The huanucu is considerably larger than the llama, which it so much
resembles, that it was formerly considered to be the same animal in a
wild state. The body is brown, with the under parts white; the face is
of a blackish-grey, approaching to white about the lips. The fleece is
shorter and not so fine as that of the llama. The huanucus are very
shy, and only when caught young can they be tamed--and even then they
can rarely be induced to carry burdens. They generally live in small
troops of from five to seven. Not unfrequently they may be seen scaling
the snow-covered peaks to a height which no other living thing save the
condor can reach. They find sustenance in the _ychu_, a species of
grass which grows all along the great ridge of the Cordilleras, from the
equator to the southern limits of Patagonia.