Publisher's Note: Established lama owners are well aware of this problem but there are many newcomers to the lama community and it is prudent that we run this article for them and as a reminder to the rest of us.

The llama’s name was Nathan (Hale) and he was alone in a 15 x 20 area. He had a thick heavy rope around his neck, dragging it along with him with every step as he paced the fence line. Nathan’s rope was long and it curled under and around his feet as he paced. - sometimes tripping and sometimes catching himself. His shelter consisted of a worn out tattered tarp tied to the barbed wire fence which had fallen apart and down. When it rained he would try to get under it. The owner told them (the first couple). Nathan’s living conditions were not acceptable. The concerned couple, who had llamas of their own, saw Nathan and knew his situation had to change quickly. Inquiries were made to the owner who said they had purchased Nathan to be a guard for their animals. The previous owner told them Nathan was a horse guardian and that he was approximately three years old. He was also intact, so of course the reaction of a mare with her foal that he was supposed to protect was not a pleasant one. Nathan was put in this small temporary catch pen, due to the lack of knowledge of the present owner knowing what to do with him. The owner seemed to think that the previous owner was heavy handed and thought the llama had attacked him at some point.

The concerned couple did not have the facilities to house another llama, therefore contacted a farm that deals with rescue and rehabilitation of llamas. This farm would be Nathan’s chance to have a great quality of life living with other llamas. The couple was thrilled Nathan would have such a home, but they now had to contact the present owners again. They agreed to purchase (the owners would not release him without monetary compensation) and transport Nathan to his new home. When they arrived at the farm to pick up the llama, the couple walked over to the fence to meet Nathan. He reached out and pushed his nose against the man’s shoulder with some force. They were surprised by the reaction. Nathan’s condition was examined by the couple. He’d not been sheared, had not been given shots, had halter scars on his nose and bridge (the owners mentioned they had removed an ingrown halter, but not the rope, when they brought him home) and his toenails were the longest the couple had ever seen on a llama. Nathan, they were told, had chest butted and wrapped his front legs around the female owner. She was unhurt but she knew he could be aggressive. The couple had no experience dealing with him. Nathan did not have a halter on, only the long rope, so the man brought one of his halters. He climbed over the fence and got halfway into the area when Nathan chest butted him. The man pulled himself up but not before Nathan reared up, put his front legs on the man’s shoulders and began trying to bite his head. The llama had to be haltered over the fence. It was only when Nathan felt a halter that he froze for a moment, which gave them the opportunity to finish putting on the halter and lead. The owners then had to cut down the barbed wire fence because there was no gate. Nathan looked shocked when led to the trailer and fought before getting into it. Once inside the trailer, the man quickly cut the heavy rope off of Nathan’s neck. During this whole ordeal the woman owner told them that he was being good today. When she was told that this was not normal llama behavior, she seemed surprised. She raised alpacas on her farm, but had never had a llama before this. On the drive to Nathan’s new home the couple spoke about him. They had never seen such aggressive behavior before and they were worried. They hoped that is was just bad behavior and that being worked with daily and living with other llamas would change Nathan’s outlook on life. In their hearts they hoped that he wasn’t a berserk male.

Nathan arrived at the new farm and was very nervous. Although this is an expected reaction, upon taking his first walk about, Nathan proceeded to casually chest butt his new owner (the second couple) and to spit. The man had some training techniques taught to him and proceeded to let Nathan know that he was behaving with bad manners. Nathan’s reaction was fear and then good behavior. Nathan was then taken to an adjoining field above the other llamas on the farm. All the other llamas rushed over to see who the new guy was. At no time did Nathan show even the slightest interest in the other llamas. Nathan’s only concern seemed to be searching the ground and looking behind him as though he was searching for . . . the rope.

As it happened, the farm’s vet was coming the next day, so after a hurried call to the clinic office, it was arranged that the vet would geld and vaccinate Nathan.

The following morning Nathan ate supplement from a bucket in the catch pen. He been chowing down on all that good grass the previous afternoon and seemed to enjoy this treat as well. But, he would return to the pasture and to the outer most reaches of the fence, always pawing and looking at the ground as though he were searching for the rope that had been his only companion. Upon the vet arriving, Nathan was let into a catch pen and the woman went in to put a lead rope on in order to maneuver Nathan for the vet. After standing for a few moments while the vet readied his equipment, Nathan rose up and chest butted the woman against the fence panel three times. As the woman gained her footing she went into the Mallon Macarena and this put Nathan into fear and a still stance. Nathan’s rope was then slip knotted to a corner post and shots to anesthetize him were administered. The gelding procedure was routine – then came the removal of the fighting teeth. The first couple had been told by previous owners that Nathan was three years old. Upon inspection by the vet, he thought Nathan was closer to eight or nine years old. Then the area the rope had been around his neck was looked at; this was a tunneled, callused area looking very much like the palm of a gorilla. It had been rubbed raw, healed, infected and so on, repeatedly. Considering the amount of skin damage and the appearance of the felted hair (Nathan didn’t appear to have ever been sheared, fortunately he was a light-wooled llama) the rope may have been on him for a year to a year and a half. Nathan also had, throughout the front sides and hindquarters, numerous lacerations from the barbed wire. These markings were also on his head, ears and neck. The vet then gave vaccinations, penicillin and a strong dose of Ivomectin.

The vet then visited the other llamas, seeing to their needs and waited to leave until Nathan was up and walking. Because of the cold temperatures, Nathan was going to require numerous walks to insure good healing from the gelding surgery. So, that afternoon, within the pasture, Nathan was walked about every two hours. By the end of the day he was feeling better and again tried to check butt and again got the dance. The next morning the supplement bucket was taken down by the woman. When Nathan ran to the gate, the woman just held the bucket forward to let him start eating right away rather than taking time to feed him in the catch pen. Nathan came in one motion up on the gate and grabbed the jacket sleeve in his mouth and yanked. The woman pulled away as Nathan put his head through the gate slats and grabbed towards her legs. The woman put the bucket in front of his nose in hopes that he was just anxious for the feed. Nathan’s repeated thrusts over the gate told the woman that this was not the case. Later on the man took Nathan out for a walk. They went up through the field and things appeared okay. Upon heading back, Nathan suddenly attacked and knocked the man down. The man then got up and flayed his hat at Nathan who then went into fear mode and was led back into the pasture.

As the days wore on, Nathan began to know when they were coming out of the house. The next morning, the woman was going to clean the hen house which is located about 200 yards from Nathan’s gate on his side. As the woman walked out the hen house door, she heard Nathan and looked up to see him charging the gate. With his head down on the final approach, his pace was slowed enough that he wasn’t able to ford the gate. But repeated pouncing was appearing ominous. The woman left his sight and Nathan calmed down and went back to his outpost. The scenario was repeated numerous times that day. Assuming that Nathan was getting the exercise he needed to heal, a walk seemed unnecessary.

By this time, the other llamas were well aware of something going on, but even their attention to Nathan didn’t rouse his interest in them even the slightest. Nathan was now completely unapproachable. If he was approached, the outcomes were disastrous for the man or woman.

This now had become a full blown Berserk Male. Over these days, every effort and every excuse had been used. Nathan’s life was now in the balance. A berserk male can happen overnight but in Nathan’s case he’d had many years to perfect his behavior. He’d obviously had no llama contact. His conformation was quite poor to begin with so he was probably a cheap “throw away” llama sold to an unsuspecting soul who didn’t know how to properly handle and care for camelids. His life went from bad to worse with cruel treatment for reasons we cannot even begin to attest to. He then came to yet another situation where the people still didn’t know enough about camelids, let alone how to handle or recognize the problems that Nathan had. Nathan’s saving grace wasn’t exactly the last couple who found him, but rather that less knowledgeable people could have been seriously hurt by him. The two couples involved talked this situation out at length and there was only one solution – euthanasia.

There will be some of you out there reading this saying, “How could they do that?”

Don’t you ever think that this is an easy decision. We know that there are some who think that berserk males can be “saved.” But what kind of life would it be for Nathan to have a constant battle with the people who care for him, to be severely physically contained or anesthetized for needed procedures and put in with a species he couldn’t relate to because he’d never been around them? These animals (and yes, it can happen to females too) are not of the temperament we in the camelid community have come to know. They are vicious, mean spirited and must be very sad. More to the point, they are dangerous to people. Unfortunately, it is people who have created them. This doesn’t happen in the wild. We people have made them what they are by our own ignorance. There is enough information out there now to inform people on the ins and outs of raising camelids. In the end, it isn’t we who pay the price for our ignorance – this time it was Nathan.

Publisher's Note: You can check out the Berserk Male Syndrome condition further on the www.llamapaedia.com web site. This article was reprinted from the Michigan Lama Association Newsletter Volume 10, Issue 2. For a perspective on some specific Guidelines for Spending Time with Crias and Young Llamas (Part 1 of 2) – check out the article in this issue by the same name.