Scottish animal park welcomes four baby llamas in one week

An animal park in South Lanarkshire has experienced a “baby boom” after four llamas were born in one week, including three in one morning.

The first cria or baby llama was a female born last week at Clyde Valley Family Park, and that was then followed on Saturday morning, when three males arrived.

All four are the offspring of Richard, a male llama, who arrived at the park on Halloween last year following a rescue.

The new arrivals are already walking around their enclosure, where visitors can see them via the park’s Safari Train ride.

Keepers were caught be surprise, and while they knew the llamas were due to give birth, they didn’t expect the births to be so close together.

“We were in the middle of building our Haunted House when Johnny the Train Driver came on the radio to say another llama had been born.” said the Clyde Valley Family Park team.

“We knew that the llamas were all expecting, but we didn’t expect that they’d all give birth the same week, let alone the same day. Richard must have gotten straight to work when he joined the ladies last year.”

The pack of llamas at Clyde Valley Family Park. Clyde Valley Family Park

Female llamas are known for standing up when they give birth and the delivery can be over in as little as 30 minutes.

They usually always give birth in the morning or during the day, which is an adaptation from living in the wild in South America, allowing the cria’s coat to dry before temperatures drop at night.

The female has been named Jolene, following naming competition, with the three males to be given names following involvement from the public.