Berserk llama syndrome (usually shortened to BLS), aberrant behavior syndrome, or berserk male syndrome (as it is more pronounced in males) is a psychological condition experienced by human-raised

camelids Camelids are members of the biological family Camelidae, the only currently living family in the suborder Tylopoda. The seven extant members of this group are: dromedary camels, Bactrian camels, wild Bactrian camels, llamas, alpacas, vicuñas, ...

, particularly

llamas The llama (; ) (''Lama glama'') is a domesticated South American camelid, widely used as a meat and pack animal by Andean cultures since the Pre-Columbian era. Llamas are social animals and live with others as a herd. Their wool is soft ...

and

alpacas The alpaca (''Lama pacos'') is a species of South American camelid mammal. It is similar to, and often confused with, the llama. However, alpacas are often noticeably smaller than llamas. The two animals are closely related and can successfu ...

, that can cause them to exhibit dangerously

aggressive behavior Aggression is overt or covert, often harmful, social interaction with the intention of inflicting damage or other harm upon another individual; although it can be channeled into creative and practical outlets for some. It may occur either reacti ...

toward humans. The term has been overused, however, and is sometimes inappropriately applied to llamas with aggressive personalities that are not truly "berserk".

Causes

The condition was first observed and documented in the 1970s, upon the importation of llamas to the rural

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...

. BLS is a result of overexposure of a juvenile llama, a

cria A ''cria'' (pronounced ) is a juvenile llama, alpaca, vicuña, or guanaco. Etymology The term comes from the Spanish word cría, meaning "baby". Its false cognate in English, ''crya'' (pronounced ), was coined by British sailors who explored C ...

, to humans, which results in the cria imprinting on its human handlers to such a degree that it considers them to be fellow llamas. Imprinting can be caused by

bottle feeding A baby bottle, nursing bottle, or feeding bottle is a bottle with an attached ''teat'' (also called a ''nipple'' in the US) on the top opening, on which can be suckled, and from thereby drunk directly. It is typically used by infants and young ...

, which is utilized due to a cria rejecting its mother's milk or when there is insufficient maternal milk supply. Another contributing factor is isolation from other llamas. When the cria reaches maturity, the llama can not distinguish humans from other llamas and may try to demonstrate their dominance. Adult male inter-llama interaction can be rough, including chest-ramming, charging, leg-wrestling, and biting, and they are strongly

territorial A territory is an area of land, sea, or space, particularly belonging or connected to a country, person, or animal. In international politics, a territory is usually either the total area from which a state may extract power resources or a ...

. In some severe cases, llamas with BLS may sneak up to their owners and attack them from behind. Male llamas with this condition become dangerous when this behavior is directed toward humans and they usually have to be

euthanised Animal euthanasia (euthanasia from el, εὐθανασία; "good death") is the act of killing an animal or allowing it to die by withholding extreme medical measures. Reasons for euthanasia include incurable (and especially painful) conditio ...

. Female llamas can also have berserk llama syndrome but their behavior is usually limited to spitting and difficult handling.

Prevention and treatment

In males, the chance of developing berserk llama syndrome can be reduced through

castration Castration is any action, surgical, chemical, or otherwise, by which an individual loses use of the testicles: the male gonad. Surgical castration is bilateral orchiectomy (excision of both testicles), while chemical castration uses pharmaceut ...

before

puberty Puberty is the process of physical changes through which a child's body matures into an adult body capable of sexual reproduction. It is initiated by hormonal signals from the brain to the gonads: the ovaries in a girl, the testes in a boy. ...

. However, BLS can still appear in gelded males. A majority of berserk males are euthanized.

References

{{reflist Camelid diseases Llamas Syndromes in mammals