QUILCENE — A llama born Monday at Center Valley Animal Rescue had a close call Thursday morning but is now recovering.
“For a while, we thought he wasn’t going to make it, but he is now doing a bit better and took a bottle,” said Sara Penhallegon, the director of the animal rescue at 11900 Center Road in Quilcene.
“I am hoping he will pull through,” she said Thursday afternoon. “We will see what his labs show tomorrow.”
Shortly after his birth, a volunteer christened the baby Elroy, also naming his mother Jane.
Penhallegon said Elroy was “pretty weak” when he was born but soon sat up and was running around.
He appeared healthy until 5 a.m. Thursday, when Penhallegon found him unconscious in his stall.
“He was laying on his side and was freezing cold,” she said.
“I thought he was dead but found he was still breathing.”
Llamas are native to cold areas, so the evening temperature in the 20s was not the only factor, she said.
Warmed Elroy
She brought him inside, wrapping him to increase his body temperature, which at the time did not register on the thermometer.
His blood sugar was low, and he was given an intravenous sugar formula, she said.
Penhallegon also took blood and sent it to the lab for analysis. The results are due today.
He needs his mother’s milk to grow, Penhallegon said, but attempts to milk her on Thursday “didn’t go so well.”
If the milk can’t be acquired, he will be fed a substitute, she said.
Mother rescued
The mother, Jane, was one of five llamas rescued from a location in Clallam County where they had suffered neglect, she said.
The rescued herd consisted of one male and four females, one of which was visibly pregnant.
She called the male “a stud,” then added that “he used to be,” as he was neutered shortly after arriving at the facility.
The newly neutered male llama is now available for adoption, Penhallegon said.
The three other females will not be put up for adoption until it is determined whether they are pregnant, she said.
A llama’s gestation period is 11 months and a pregnancy isn’t always detectable, she said.
Long-lived llamas
Penhallegon said a full-grown llama weighs between 300 pounds and 500 pounds and has a lifespan of 30 years, so adopting one is a lifetime commitment.
According to its website, Center Valley Animal Rescue is “a nonprofit, volunteer-staffed animal rescue and sanctuary committed to providing safe harbor and rehabilitation for unwanted, injured or abandoned domesticated and wild animals, decreasing the number of unnecessary euthanasias performed.”
The no-kill animal rescue offers permanent sanctuary to the domestic animals that cannot be adopted and participates in the rehabilitation and release of wild animals.
For more information, see www.centervalleyanimalrescue.org.
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Jefferson County Editor Charlie Bermant can be reached at 360-385-2335 or cbermant@peninsuladailynews.com.