A final-year student at the University of California, Berkeley has offered students a novel way to destress during the exam season – involving llamas.
Ana Claire Mancia, a business major, created the ‘Llamapalooza’ initiative in 2018, where students can pet, feed and get photos with eight llamas at the internationally-renowned university. The events have been successful enough to happen every semester, with thousands of students attending.
No llama drama in sight
Despite llamas’ reputation for being temperamental and spitting, this is only when they are agitated.
Students are even encouraged to engage the animals in a ‘llama greeting’, in which one approaches the llama’s nose and breathes in the same air. According to those who have experienced it, it’s surprisingly soothing.
Other Californian universities including Stanford and San Fransisco have recently begun to host similar events.
