Mounties help corral llama off Metro Vancouver highway after it escapes enclosure

A llama was returned to its enclosure after escaping onto Highway 99 in Surrey on March 24, 2022. (RCMP)

Surrey Mounties were called to an unusual disturbance on a local highway after a llama managed to escape its enclosure Thursday morning.

The llama made it through a hole in a fence and was loose on the east side of Highway 99 near 8th Avenue, police said. Two officers got to the area at about 7:30 a.m. and managed to contact the owner.

"With the assistance of the owners and the officers they were able to sort of corral the llama back through the hole that it came out," Cpl. Vanessa Munn told CTV News Vancouver, adding that the owner plans to repair the fence.

"They almost formed a little bit of a partial circle and just sort of herded it towards the opening."

The officers were warned to keep their distance from the animal.

"Llamas can be a little bit unpredictable as well as spit," Munn said, adding that the officers were lucky in this case.

"The officer was very happy that he did not get spit on."

While calls to police about animals on the highway are uncommon, they're not unheard of. In fact, one of the officers involved in Thursday's call dealt with two previous incidents with livestock, including one when pigs needed to be captured and another when cows got onto the highway.

"Somehow he seems to be becoming our animal expert," Munn said.