World’s oldest llama ever spends his life cheering up kids with chronic conditions
Whitetop, a snow-coloured llama from North Carolina, USA, spends his days patiently playing with seriously ill children at the Victory Junction camp and presiding over other farm animals in the barnyard as a grandfatherly figure.
For the Victory Junction community, Whitetop is a beloved part of their lives – at 27 years and 250 days old, he’s been around almost as long as the camp itself.
But this gentle creature just achieved a huge accomplishment – he dethroned the great Dalai Llama to become the two-time Guinness World Records titleholder for the oldest llama in captivity and oldest llama in captivity ever.
Whitetop (whose full name is Dove Oaks Whitetop, after the Dove Oaks Farm where he was born) was donated to Victory Junction in February 2006, and for the last 19 years he has treated the campers and staff with empathy and respect that some say can be rare for the breed.
“He’s the llama that you love,” says Billie Jo Davis, the Barn Director at Victory Junction. “He’s just awesome.”
“He is so good with our campers that as soon as our camp days start, he just lays down and he doesn't get up until lunch. He'll just lay there and he lets kids run up to him and love on him,” she adds. “He treats it like a job – it is his job!”
Victory Junction is a unique facility founded by race car driver Kyle Petty and his family in honour of his son Adam. It provides “life changing camp experiences that are exciting, fun, and empowering, in a medically safe environment, always free of charge” for children with serious illnesses or chronic medical conditions.
Located in Randleman, North Carolina, the camp provides these children with serious and chronic medical conditions with free and safe access to the exciting experiences all children love, but they might not otherwise be able to do because of the cost or their conditions. But at Victory Junction, they have 84 acres designed just for them – such as rock climbing, boating, arts and crafts, sports, a water park, a race track, the giant barnyard, and more.
In the barnyard, Whitetop lives with nine horses, two goats, two rabbits, two donkeys, and one cow. His pasture mates are two miniature donkeys named Jed and Jethro, and his best friend is Gus-Gus, a miniature highland cow that grew up alongside Whitetop and thinks of him as his grandpa.
“Because they played so much together, Gus-Gus thinks Whitetop is a cow!” said Billie Jo. “He likes to try to jump on him and play with him, and we're like, no, he's old, leave him alone! But Whitetop is just too sweet with them.”
Whitetop when he was young
Whitetop’s calm demeanour also comes through by the fact that he never spits at anyone – which is rare for a llama! While his handlers say he does sometimes try to spit at his pasture mates when he wants food (or they annoy him, which we understand), he’s so old that nothing comes out.
The camp even sells limited edition “Still Spit’n” Whitetop t-shirts, with proceeds going to their wonderful cost-free experiences and medical care for their animals like Whitetop.
Whitetop is a part of the Animal Adventure Program, which allows children to pet, groom, and take pictures with him. While the camp is active, you’ll likely find him awake before most of the campers, and he’ll start his morning with a big bowl of breakfast before working from 9:30 a.m. to noon. He then has a little break for lunch, before more quality time with the campers from 3-6 p.m.
His absolute favourite thing to do with people is selfies – his handlers like to say if you want a photo of Whitetop, you have to take a picture with Whitetop. The campers get a kick out of their pics with the pet, and love it when he nuzzles his head against theirs and poses.
“He's not afraid of anything. He’s so good at his job that he can always be trusted with campers of all abilities. He's just there for them,” said Billie Jo.
According to Victory Farm, the secret to helping your llama live a long life is to: “Give them a job that they love, good vet care, and lots of love, and they will live past your wildest dreams.”
Despite his old age and long days, everyone at Victory Junction remarked how calm and sweet Whitetop remains. He rarely acts out, and communicates by humming – and usually only makes that low groan when his pasture mates leave and he is left alone, missing them.
He’s a social guy by nature, and the Victory Junction team is already excited to celebrate his new record titles with him. They plan to host a little celebration with the loving llama, taking lots of selfies with him and his new certificates, and awarding him with a bucket of his favourite food – llama feed mixed with senior horse feed and Probios, dry, not wet, in his special bucket.