Registering Llamas

Nearly all llamas and alpacas in the United States are registered with the International Lama Registry (the ILR or the Registry in this discussion). This is a "closed" registry, which means that if you wish to register a llama, both of its parents must have been registered with the ILR. At the time that the Registry "closed" its books, it was estimated that over 90% of the female llamas and over 80% of the male llamas currently in the US were registered.

*Under special circumstances, llamas and alpacas may be screened. The progeny of those that pass screening may then be eligible for registration.

If a llama is not registered, it cannot be shown. If a llama is not registered, then its progeny will be worth a lot less than those from registered parents, just as is the case for other registered animals.

If you are planning to buy a llama, you should buy one that is already registered. Either you or the previous owner can then transfer the registration to you.

Reasons to buy a registered llama

  • If it can be used for breeding, its registered progeny will be worth more.
  • You can show registered llamas. At most llama shows you cannot show unregistered llamas.
  • It gives you a more accurate view of the llama's pedigree, including information about its ancestors' country of origin, blood typed status, etc.
  • Works better for insurance purposes.
  • A bank may be more likely to extend a loan for the purchase of a registered llama than for an unregistered one.

Reasons not to buy a "potentially registerable" llama

  • You cannot register progeny from an unregistered llama.
  • Unregistered llamas are worth less than registered llamas, all things being equal.
  • You cannot show unregistered llamas, except for geldings, in some shows.
  • An unregistered llama is probably the sign of someone not seriously interested in raising llamas, but who is just an animal producer. Health and training issues might also be questionable in such a case.
  • It is also a bad idea to buy a "potentially registerable" llama, in case it really isn't registerable.
    • All four signatures on a llama's registration application must be considered valid by the Registry. Various things can result in a signature's being considered invalid, for example:
    • Someone signed who does not show as the owner of that llama at the appropriate time. This can happen when someone buys a sire or a dam and fails to transfer its registration for awhile and during that time, breeds the llama. This can be fixed, but is much easier done by the people directly involved, rather than by some hapless buyer.
    • Some sires must have their blood types on record with the Registry.
    • To help ensure accuracy of Registry records, those studs producing the most progeny (more than 10 crias) and/or those being used for outside services must be blood typed and have these blood types on record with the Registry.
      If a stud's blood type is required, and the Registry doesn't show that it has been done, then you would have to wait to register your llama until it has been done.
      Again, it is easier for the people selling the llama to get this sort of thing ironed out than it will be for you as the buyer.
    • It will cost more for you to register the llama than it will for the owner. It costs them four times less to register ($15 - $20) than it will you ($40). Transferring the llama from them to you costs only $20.

So what happens if you want to buy a llama and the owner assures you that it is registerable? You can request that the owner register the llama first (takes a few weeks) and then you will take the llama. Alternatively, you can give the owner half the llama's price, and the other half on delivery of the llama's registration certificate to you. This may or may not be possible. But you are better off shopping elsewhere than purchasing what may end up to be an unregisterable llama.

Contacting the Registry

The International Lama Registry

P.O. Box 8, Kalispell, MT 59903
(406) 755-3438
(406) 755-3439 (fax)
ilr@llamaregistry.com
http://www.llamaregistry.com/