Guanaco

Slender-legged and cinnamon-coated, the guanaco is the wild camelid of South America and the ancestor of the llama. Its blood carries more red cells than any other land mammal’s, letting it thrive on windswept Andean slopes where the air holds far less oxygen.

Guanacos survive on scrubby plants that would starve cattle, and can go days without drinking when dew and moisture in plants are enough. Herds follow a single territorial male, and when a rival approaches, individuals may hold their ground in a strange silent standoff, neck-to-neck, waiting for the other to flinch.