Guanaco (Lama guanicoe) Fact Sheet: Distribution & Habitat

Native to: Argentina, Bolivia, Chile, Paraguay and Peru

Distribution: Found from sea level to 12,800 ft (4300 m)  Rarely 16,000 ft (5,300 m)

• Argentina: range covers most of Patagonia but is highly fragmented.
  • Restricted to western half of central and northern Argentina, along the pre-Andes and Andean mountains to Bolivian border (Baigún et al. 2007).

• Chile: most are concentrated in the Magallanes and Aysén regions in the south (highest number on Tierra del Fuego island) and Tarapaca region in the north.
• Bolivia - remnant population in the Chaco region (Cuéllar and Fuentes 2000). Some in southern highlands between Potosi and Chuquisaca (Nuñez, unpublished data).
• Paraguay - remnant population in the northwestern Chaco (Villalba 2004).
• Peru - northernmost part of guanaco distribution.

From Atacama in Chile (one of the world’s driest deserts) to Tierra del Fuego (year-round rain).

Occupy 4 of South America’s 10 habitat types (Dinerstein)

• Desert and xeric shrub lands
• Montane grasslands
• Grasslands, savannas and shrub landsTemperate forests

Guanaco distribution.

Adapted from www.d-maps.com according to IUCN fact sheet
Click here or on map for detailed distribution (IUCN)

Dinerstein, (1995)
Gonzalez, (2006)
IUCN, (2009)
Baigún et al, (2007)