Joker and Rosie both have what’s called Wry Face. The more appropriate use of the term wry is in reference to a crooked neck, hence the condition’s common name wry neck; its medical name is torticollis. As a verb, wry literally means “pull out of proper shape, make awry”; as an adjective, it means “having a bent or twisted shape or condition, turned abnormally to one side,” and “wrongheaded.” When applied to the face, it means an altered facial conformation.
Theoretically, the principal facial bones that would be involved in wry face are the mandible (lower jaw) and the maxilla (upper jaw), separately or in combination. While the numbers of observed and reported cases in North America are higher for the llama, there are increasing cases in alpacas as their populations increase.
Enter Rosie, she’s a llama with a cheeky grin as well… for the most part both of their lives are unaffected by their condition, especially when living out their Alpacaly Ever After with us. We don’t do any walking or trekking with the general public with either Joker or Rosie, they would physically struggle a bit with any exertion. But they are very happy in our lovely green Lakeland fields living with the rest of The Woolly Army.
If you ever have any questions or concerns about alpacas and llamas then please email: [email protected] and we’ll do our very best to help!
Wordsmiths: Rachel Kearns & Emma Smalley
One comment on “Meet Joker and Rosie…”