What do guanacos eat?

Question

I need this info for a skool project. so, what do guanacos eat? they're basically llama-like creatures that live in the Pampas of South America

Answer 1

They are ruminants, which means they chew cud like cow or deer. They survive well on different kinds of low protein hay or pasture grass, providing it has a balanced mineral content. Because Guanacoss evolved in harsh conditions, they utilize their food more efficiently than other ruminants. They cost as much per month to feed as a dog roughly.

Answer 2

Feeding habits: The guanaco is a non-specialized herbivore and basically a grazer, but may also browse. The diet in Magallanes is made up of 62 percent grasses (mainly Festuca) and 15 percent browse (Nothofagus spp). Dicotyledons form 11 percent of the diet and are particularly important in the spring, i.e. the months of October and November. Guanacos also eat epiphytes, lichens and fungi

The guanaco inhabits a great variety of habitats and so its diet may also vary greatly at different times and places. Guanacos are more efficient than sheep at digesting crude fibre and dry matter (280), and may compete with them for winter fodder. Winter food shortages caused by overgrazing by sheep are probably the main cause of guanaco mortality in Magallanes