Footloose llama captured after months on the run

A bad-tempered llama that has been scaring horses in the Bobcat Ridge Natural Area northwest of Loveland since late summer was captured Sunday morning, lured into a corral with bucket of oats and carrots.

The city of Fort Collins Natural Areas Department tweeted a photo of the spotted animal Sunday morning with the message: “The elusive stray llama wandering Bobcat has been captured. Thanks to all of you who were on the look out, and those who offered to help.”

In mid-October, hikers reported seeing the lightbrown llama with black spots near Mahoney Park in the natural area. Fort Collins Natural Areas officials said the animal had been roaming the open space for about three months, and they were using social media at the time to try to find its owners.

Reports of a llama started pouring in almost daily, Bobcat Ridge Ranger Karl Manderbach told the Fort Collins Coloradoan.

He said various rangers and staff members had tried to capture the llama, but it wandered away before they could nab it. It ignored the chance at company, refusing to follow a llama herd brought to the natural area by a helpful rancher.

Manderbach said he piled hay bales in a spot near where hikers reported seeing the animal, hoping the llama would continue returning to the site and he could capture it with the help of Colorado Parks and Wildlife.

On Saturday morning, however, the llama appeared in the parking lot and nibbled carrots that Manderbach offered. The llama wouldn’t walk into a grassy corral, though.

Manderbach told the Coloradoan that the llama returned Sunday morning, finally following him into the corral, apparently interested in the bucket of oats and carrots he was carrying.

Given its druthers, the llama would still be on the lam. It tried to squeeze under the corral fence, forcing Manderbach to lock it in a shed.

Manderbach told the Coloradoan on Sunday that no owner had come forward to claim the animal, though several wildlife sanctuaries are willing to take it.

“Hopefully, we’ll be able to find her a new home,” he told the Coloradoan. “We don’t have the facility to keep her here at Bobcat.”