The Llama Sanctuary

10/04/2026

Have you seen this goose? This is Teddy, who we released back into the wild today. Keep an eye out for her if you are in the Rhydwilym / Llangolman / Llanycefn / Llandissilio / Efailwen area.

It is not just llamas that we deal with here: over the years we have welcomed an assortment of feral cats, abandoned poultry, and a variety of wildlife including Teddy, a Canada goose who was taken from her nest when she was about a week old by a dog. Her nest could not be located, and in the end The Llama Sanctuary was contacted to look after Teddy due to our existing goose knowledge.

Teddy was raised with a variety of domestic goslings and has grown up with the other beasts at the sanctuary. When she arrived she had an injured wing which we dressed and mended. She has free ranged here for the past two years and has been rather well behaved in that time by goose standards (asides from constantly attempting to break into the house).

Recently, she has felt the call of the wild and been practicing her flying skills across the valley. She has visited numerous neighbours and broken into their houses causing maximum goose mischief. A handsome young boy Canada goose - Wanderin’ George - has emerged on to the scene and has come calling for Teddy on several occasions. Today we felt Teddy needed to be with George more than us, and post-Goose Management Meeting it was decided that Teddy should be taken to the local pond to rendezvous for a date with Wanderin’ George, and the two left to have some privacy. Hopefully George will take Teddy under his wing and show her the wild goose ways.

Teddy has been flying around our land and circling our house for the past year - so she can fly - but does not have huge levels of stamina yet, so does need to rest after bursts of flights. Therefore please remain vigilant if you see a suspicious looking goose in the area - she seems to stay away from roads but if you do see her in a vulnerable position please es**rt her into the nearest safe field (or call us so that we can ensure her safety). Over the past few weeks we have spent a few occasions tracing her across hills and fields to make sure she is safe, but she seems to know what she is doing, so we have come to the conclusion that our part in her story is finally over, and she must write the next chapter of her life by herself with her new goosey companions. What a pleasure and honour it has been to raise such a noble bird. We hope she remembers all her goosey friends here and comes back to visit occasionally.

27/02/2026

Last year, on 27th February 2025, The Llama Sanctuary became a registered UK charity.

Today, on 27th February 2026, The Llama Sanctuary completed a purchase of 30 acres of land.

It has been a long road for the sanctuary, but we now finally have a place to call home and grow from.

The rest of 2026 will very much be about establishing our foundations and building something sustainable and future proof. We have lofty aspirations, and will soon be in the market for more stable space, livestock transport, trailers, trucks, better fencing, gates…the list goes on. The ever present day to day costs of hay and vet bills always loom large.

The charity is indebted to many people who have worked hard to get us to this point: our trustees Matt Yorke, Naomi Lewis, and Marion Dubois. Our sanctuary manager, Aleks Mykhailova. We are eternally grateful for the unbelievable support and contributions from Peter Bourne, Bruce Alexander, Ceri Alexander, The British Llama Society, and British Camelids. Our deepest thanks and gratitude to Robina Chatham for championing our cause and fighting passionately for this outcome. Likewise to Liz Butler, Tim Crowfoot, Graham Reed, Graham Duncanson and Bob Broadbent - true camelid lovers each and every one. And thanks to Jonathan Lawrence, who innocently kickstarted this whole process about two years ago when he made a casual enquiry to the sanctuary about rehoming 30 llamas...that conversation quickly snowballed and took on a life and adventure of its own - it has been quite the journey!

We are forever indebted to each and every one of the above people - this could not have happened without you and you will always be welcome at the sanctuary.

This is just the beginning, and we look forward to sharing our progress and further exciting news as the year develops.

22/08/2025

Lovely visit to The Llama Sanctuary by Pembrokeshire Young Onset Dementia group recently. Trustee Matt gave a talk and llama Q&A session, followed by some llama brushing and stroking, and followed up with some photos and llama selfies! A great knowledge sharing session where we were able to pass on our passion for llamas, whilst also learning so much about this brilliant charity and the inspirational work they do. Thank you so much for visiting!

Did you know that every month we offer free llama visits for local community groups, non-profits, and other charities? If you are part of such a group and would like to arrange a visit, email us via [email protected] to find out more 🦙🦙🦙

27/07/2025

Our llama sanctuary charity hosted a visit for our local Beaver group the other week. The children learned all about llamas - where they come from, what they are used for, and what they eat. The llamas got stroked, brushed, and taken for a walk! We are told that the llamas have been a popular topic when the children have been drawing in subsequent Beaver sessions 🦙

Did you know that every month we offer free llama visits for local community groups, non-profits, and other charities? If you are part of such a group and would like to arrange a visit, email us via [email protected] to find out more 🦙🦫 🦫 🦫

14/07/2025

This is Jojo Llama. He’s been with us at the sanctuary for a few years now. He was never supposed to be here. He just got dropped off unannounced with some other llamas that we were rehoming. We had absolutely no idea he was coming! He was under a year old when he arrived, and very scrawny. We have worked hard to get some weight on him and he has grown into a healthy handsome young man.

Jojo is a right troublemaker and often causes mischief with the older llamas, starting squabbles amongst his peers and then legging it before he can be accused of any wrong doing!

19/05/2025

As of February 2025 we became a registered charity. Our mission: to help rehome any llama in need across the UK.

It is a lofty ambition, but a worthy one. Every year we see more and more llamas in need of a new home. We are busier than ever taking llama rehoming enquiries. We currently have a waiting list of nearly 70 llamas whose owners have been in contact about rehoming their llamas to us in the future.

A recent AHWBE report (Animal Health and Welfare Board for England) noted a rise in the number of llamas needing new homes due to ‘owners not being able to care for their animals because of the owners advancing age’. The cost of living crisis means less people are financially in a position to keep llamas. And as farming in general comes under pressure from all sides in the UK, keeping exotic livestock becomes less feasible and / or desirable. And of course the price of property and land in the UK climbs steadily ever upwards, pricing many potential llama keepers out of the market.

Our first goal is to obtain an independent site for The Llama Sanctuary to operate from. At present, our rehomed llamas are kept on our trustees’ land, but this is unsustainable and too small for our long term aims. We are currently looking at a range of investment activities with which to raise the required funds. It is not something we will be able to do alone. If you would like to be involved, or to help with a donation, please get in touch.

We will be steadily updating our charity website www.llamasanctuary.org over the next few weeks and months. There are lots of exciting initiatives underway, and we can’t wait to announce them all asap.

Why do llamas need rehoming? This is a common question that we are often asked. There is no straight forward answer, and there are many reasons why a llama may need rehoming. Some of the common scenarios that we encounter are listed below:

* The existing owner has passed away.
* The existing owner has health problems and can no longer care for their animals.
* The existing owner has financial problems and can no longer care for their animals.
* The existing owner is moving and cannot take their llamas with them to their new home.
* The llama has been left by itself after its companion llamas have passed away and now it is the only remaining llama left. The owners do not wish to have any more llamas and therefore need to find the llama a new home (llamas have a strong herd mentality and must be kept in groups or they will suffer psychologically).
* A welfare issue, where the llama / llamas must be removed from its current environment due to neglect or poor husbandry to negate any negative health implications (or continued health implications).

Photo: 3 of our rehomed llamas: L-R Bojack, Jojo Llama, and Untitled Llama #1 (we’ll be running a naming competition for him soon - read about his sad history on our website www.llamasanctuary.org )

10/02/2025

Last year our director Matthew Yorke was awarded the Benavides Trophy, in recognition of all the work he has done for the benefit and welfare of llamas in the UK.

The Benavides Trophy is the most prestigious award in the UK camelid industry (llamas, alpacas, guanacos, vicuña, camels). Each year the charity British Camelids awards the trophy to the person who has contributed the most to the benefit and knowledge of the whole of the UK camelid community, and was presented to Matt as a result of the work he has done over the past six years rehoming hundreds of llamas and guanacos from across the UK, sometimes in very challenging conditions.

The trophy is in memory of Dr Felipe Benavides, who played a major role in saving the beautiful vicuña from extinction (the undomesticated South American ancestor of the alpaca).

Additionally, Matt was invited to become a Trustee of British Camelids, which he accepted.

The sanctuary is the outcome of several difficult rehoming cases in recent years, where healthy animals were due to be slaughtered if they could not be found new homes. From a moral perspective, this was completely unacceptable, and consequently the sanctuary has now stepped in on numerous occasions to ensure that this outcome never occurs.

Follow our page to keep up to date with lots of exciting developments due to be announced this year! 🦙🦙🦙

02/07/2024

Bob the guanaco in golden hour

22/05/2024

Here’s a few of the cheeky young llamas that we have rehomed in the past year. From left: greedy Gordon Brown (probably part guanaco, and we suspect a bit in-bred!), centre is Ethelred - a very sweet patient boy, and right: Bojack, a beautiful young man who loves to kick over his food buckets!

Lurking in the background is Albie (L), one of our trustee’s llamas, and Jojo Llama (R), another llama we rehomed last year. He was likely under 1 year old when he arrived guessing by his size. Like all our rehomed llamas, his exact age is unknown.

We’ve been busy fattening all these skinny young boys up over the winter, and they are currently loving the fresh spring grass!

09/10/2022

As many will know, Matt has recently been involved in rehoming a large herd of llamas from Cornwall in his role as Llama Rehoming Director for the BLS.

You will be glad to know that all llamas have since been rehomed. Around 135 animals were involved (the exact number seemed to change daily due to new born crias popping out all over the place!)

Thank you to everyone who got in touch offering help or support. This was a colossal group effort - the largest rehoming exercise we have been involved in - and the sheer logistics of moving so many animals in a very tight time span was mind boggling.

This became a full time job for Matt for a while, so thanks to everyone else here on the farm for going above and beyond and covering all the other daily tasks in his absence.

Here’s a photo of some of the llamas settling into their new home!

20/12/2020