Alaska Llamas Blog

Published in Alaska Outdoor Council (AOC) 2018 Spring Newsletter (Click on link below and go to page 6 for article.) Pack Animals Denied on BLM Lands in the Eastern Interior RMP by Phil and Linda Nuechterlein   Dr. Gregg P. Adams DVM, MS, PhD professor at the Western College of Veterinary Medicine, University of Saskatchewan stated it succinctly, “Camelids are not new nor exotic to North America - they originated in North America. The diseases listed as a risk posed by llamas are no different than a list that could be made up for any species entering the back country, not least, humans. For example, every mammalian species harbours mycoplasma. Contagious ecthema, chlamydiosis and MAP in camelids are rare - far less than in humans. In any risk assessment, the objective is to determine the probability of an event happening and the consequences of such an event. There is no such thing as zero risk, and a zero-risk policy is not a legitimate argument to “strongly support a preca