Guanacos, Torres del Paine National Park, Chile 9 Dec 2024

Guanacos, Torres del Paine National Park, Chile

Pictured here today are the guanacos in Torres del Paine National Park, Chile. These herbivores may look like llamas in disguise, but they"re truly wild at heart unlike their domesticated cousins. Found roaming the Andes mountains and Patagonian plains, these long-legged wanderers are South America"s answer to the camel family—minus the humps but with double the resilience. These adaptable creatures can thrive in extreme environments, from the dry Atacama Desert to the chilly, windswept plains of Patagonia. In fact, their name even comes from the Quechua word "huanaco," meaning a wild animal or an animal that runs fast. And run they do, at up to 35 miles per hour!

© Floris van Breugel/NPL/Minden Pictures

palette

Today in History

Heads together
9 Dec 2023Vermilion Cliffs National Monument, Arizona, USA
9 Dec 2025Guanaco, Punta Norte, Valdés Peninsula, Argentina

More Desktop Wallpapers:

13 Aug 2024Telašćica Nature Park, Dugi Otok, Croatia
22 Apr 2024Earth Day
14 Jun 2025Trooping the Colour
Staying in the loop
11 Dec 2025International Mountain Day
28 Nov 2025Val Brandet, Corteno Golgi, Brescia, Lombardy, Italy
How sweet to be a star, floating in the blue.
3 Oct 2023Whitehaven Beach, Whitsunday Islands, Australia
28 Dec 202350 years of the Endangered Species Act
7 Jun 2025Victoria Street in Edinburgh, Scotland
24 Jun 2024Kelimutu, Flores, Indonesia
14 Dec 2025Royal Pavilion, Brighton, England
30 Aug 2025International Whale Shark Day
A blue-tiful island
Hangin around
A rainbow that’s worth the rainfall
Alps of the sea
Where is this historical bridge?
26 Jun 2025Horse Head Rock, New South Wales, Australia
Angry bird, doting dad
Here we go!
6 Feb 2024Lake Tahoe, USA
26 Nov 2023Fallow deer, Bradgate Park, Leicestershire, England
14 Sep 2023Przewalskis horses, Hustai National Park, Mongolia
16 Nov 2024Wadden Sea coast, Friesland, Netherlands
6 Oct 2023Taughannock Falls State Park, New York
2 Aug 2024Virgin Islands National Park, USA
11 Jun 2024Gemsboks in the savannah, Botswana
10 Jan 2024Mylopotamos, Thessaly, Greece
20 May 2025World Bee Day