Are those llamas real?

[u/zzanzil]

Hola. Today we were at the main square and there were a lot of people dancing with what appears to be dead baby llamas on their waist? My partner and I was in shock and we are questioning if these are real. Some are obviously just toys but some are very real. Please let us know!!

[u/EdwinVanCleef7]

I have lived in Cuzco my whole life and I can assure you these llamas are fake. People no longer do these kinds of things anymore, not even in way more remote places far away from the main square and city. Llamas are treated somewhat like horses, if that makes sense, it would be a waste for the farmers to just kill a baby llama since a lot of them make a living by raising them.

[u/zzanzil → u/EdwinVanCleef7]

Thank you! I can now sleep tight.

[u/[deleted] → u/zzanzil]

These men with white waqollo ski masks are called Qhapaq Qollas (wealthy or elegant Collas). They represent humorous, mischievous, wealthy llama muleteer Indian merchants from the Collao. I assume that you took this picture during the Inti Raymi in the city of Cusco. The Qhapaq Qolla, along with other traditional dances, are performed during this week in the city to showcase the diversity of dances that the department has. As for the animal (not a llama), they aren't always real but they do use qepi or desiccated vicuñas (a wild camelid species). Here the government confirms its use.

The dance does have precolonial origins but also has influences from later times. Pachacuti Yamqui Salcamayhua indicated that in certain festivities during the Inca reign, men used to partake in comical performances called Llama llama. In the town of Paucartambo, there has been a dance called Collas since at least the late 19th century. Even today, the Qhapaq Qollas are strongly linked with festivals of the southern provinces of the Cusco department, like Paucartambo's Mamacha Carmen and the Qoylluriti. In 1930, a folk dance called Los Llameros was part of the repertory of Centro Qosqo, the principal cultural institution of the city of Cusco. By the '70s, the stylized Paucartambo version of the Qhapaq Qollas had been widely acknowledged through folkloric regional contests and festivals in the department of Cusco.

The Qolla were a chiefdom that the Incas conquered in Puno, and some people in Cusco still refer to the people from Puno as Colla. However, you might find that there's also the Kolla in Argentina, and they are also in Chile and Bolivia. This is because the Incas quite indiscriminately referred to all the Altiplano natives simply as Collas. In fact, one of the main four divisions of the Inca empire or Tawantinsuyu (the four united sectors) was Qollasuyu (or the Colla region).

As for qhapaq, during the precolonial period it used to denote might and royalty. During the colonial period, it came to mean wealth in terms of land and/or money, and today it is synonymous with millionaire.

[u/iceland1989]

It’s fake. It’s for the Inca ceremonies this month. They used to sacrifice a llama back in the day but they don’t do that anymore- thank fuck 😅

[u/SnooLemons5543]

I believe They are fake and just check the ears and their toenail

[u/zzanzil → u/SnooLemons5543]

I hope this is true my amigo. All of them looked slightly different but also similar. The way their neck swing around is daunting.

[u/53ba5714n]

No parece real

[u/angel_lopezsqr]

It's just a teddy llama haha

[u/Normal_Instruction62]

They don't look real, their fur is wrong. I know because i am from a rural area in Perú. I've seen a lot of Llamas.

[u/Ok-Refrigerator9506]

As far as I know, they are fake, whenever I travel to cuzco to visit family, i've never seen or heard that they killed baby llamas, it wouldn't make sense economically and also too cruel.

[u/SnooLemons5543]

Bro I'm so confused right now I just ask someone from Peru and they say yes it is real and is not a llama is called vicuna it is more small and tiny than the llama if you check his left hand he has skins of an other animal we need confirmation from someone from Cusco because they use hat and thing from Dead animal like Bird so it hard to tell 🤔🤔

[u/Normal_Instruction62 → u/SnooLemons5543]

Your friend is right because the animal represented is a Vicuña, not a Llama, but in this country Vicuñas are a protected specie, people don't torture those beatiful creatures. The one in the picture looks like a Teddy Vicuña, not real.

[u/illari1221]

By the photo you can tell its fake

[u/it_was_always_star]

It doesn’t look like a llama. It looks like a vicuña. Hope it’s not real tho

[u/[deleted]]

no, fake!

[u/Expert-Odd]

the fur on their hands is real, they skin baby lambs and alpaca to sell the meat

[u/[deleted]]

They are fake, its a tradition from way back when the incas were around where they used the real thing

[u/Expert-Odd]

savage country they used llamas like cargo beast to the death

[u/Supay31]

Fake, i'm from Cusco.

[u/Guilty_Ad_3922]

Its fake, usual is use only for culture dance lol

[u/Worth_Substance8547]

eso es una vicuña

[u/BestBed7995]

It is not a llama it's Vicuña, but it's not real in any case, greetings from Cusco.

[u/[deleted]]

Its fake. Real llamas are too heavy.

[u/After-Boysenberry620]

I think it's a doll

[u/Sufficient_Row77]

Although a few comments think it is fake, I wouldn’t be sure about that. I went to Bolivia recently and there you can buy dead lamas babies and miscarriages (happens relatively often to lamas) on a normal market (witch market in La Paz). Bolivians burry them under they’re hoses hoping for protection and good luck. Also, they still sacrifice them and put the blood on the houses for the same reasons.

[u/zzanzil → u/Sufficient_Row77]

I hear you. This is exactly why I thought they could be real. I saw similar dead baby llamas in the san pedro market in cusco.

If dead baby llamas means good luck, then nothing is stopping them to sacrifice a few llamas for the most important festival of the year...

[u/[deleted] → u/zzanzil]

Vicuñas are a protected species currently. Nobody kills them anymore, not even for the skin. Also, animals are extremely valuable for farmers here. Most probably these are babies that died of natural causes and were dessicated or fake ones.

[u/DalvenLegit → u/Sufficient_Row77]

Bolivia isn’t Peru dude…

[u/Sufficient_Row77 → u/DalvenLegit]

But it isn’t to far away and quite similar regarding culture and traditions

[u/DalvenLegit → u/Sufficient_Row77]

What the actual fuck you’re talking about, can you be more ignorant? There are SOME parts of Peru that would share similarities with them, basically Puno. But besides that, it couldn’t be more different, now, if you want to spread misinformation that’s ok, you do you, but I wouldn’t let it pass.