'Aggressive' llama on the loose at Bobcat Ridge

Update, 12/3: No more llama drama: City captures Bobcat Ridge llama

A spotted llama is roaming the hills west of Fort Collins.

The llama is on the lam at Bobcat Ridge Natural Area, a natural area west of Fort Collins that is typically a home for elk, wild turkeys, mountain lions and other wildlife — not llamas.

City of Fort Collins Natural Areas staffers are hoping to reunite the woolly creature with its owners.

The staffers took to social media Tuesday to share photos of the llama, but they cautioned that the llama is aggressive and should not be approached.

"This llama lost its mama at Bobcat Ridge," posts on Facebook and Twitter said. "(Please) don’t approach."

Karl Manderbach, the resident ranger at Bobcat Ridge, said reports of the llama have been trickling in since late May or early June but recently started pouring in almost daily.

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Two different hiking parties reported the llama as aggressive and said it charged at them, but a hiker last week reported the llama walked up as if searching for food.

Manderbach said he's tried various tactics to bring the llama down from the hills, but nothing has been successful thus far.

In one instance, he said, a local rancher volunteered to bring his llama herd to the natural area to see if the wayward llama would follow them. 

It didn't work.

The llama, which one affectionate visitor named "Louise," has remained elusive.

"I’ve gone up several times with different rangers and different staff to do that, and we can’t get anywhere near it," Manderbach said. "It just wanders off."

Anyone with information about the llama or its owners is asked to call 970-416-2147.

This is not the first time a llama has gone missing in the area.

In July, firefighters rescued a llama named Speckles who was stranded on rocks next to the Big Thompson River. Speckles and another llama, Bravado, reportedly ran away when a bear spooked them, according to the Loveland Reporter-Herald. 

Bravado, a brown llama, was still missing as of July.

Reporter Cassa Niedringhaus covers breaking news for the Coloradoan. Follow her on Twitter: @CassaMN.