The world’s oldest llama in captivity has a full-time job of comforting chronically ill children at a camp in North Carolina that was founded by NASCAR royalty, according to The Associated Press.
Whitetop the llama is 27 years and 250 days old and recently surpassed the record set in 2023 by a llama named Dalai Llama, per NBC News.
In 2006, Whitetop was donated to Victory Junction Camp in Randleman, North Carolina, two years after the camp was founded by Kyle Petty and his loved ones, the AP reported.
The free camp, which is open year-round, is designed to serve kids with various health conditions, including cancer, cerebral palsy, spina bifida, kidney and heart disease, as well as other neurological and physical disabilities, reported NBC.
In a video put together by Guinness World Records, the camp’s barn director, Billie Davis, describes Whitetop the llama’s work and shows off the camp facilities.
Davis says that Whitetop is “really really sweet” and stays perfectly still while providing great sensory input for the children who visit the camp.
Davis noted that Whitetop loves to take selfies with campers and teach them that “not all llamas spit on you.”
The video ends with Davis saying that Whitetop is “a really cool dude and loves his job.”
Why was Victory Junction Camp founded?
According to The Associated Press, Victory Junction Camp was founded in 2004 by Kyle Petty — son of NASCAR’s greatest driver, Richard Petty — as a tribute to his late son, Adam Petty, who was killed in a 2000 crash while he was practicing for a race at age 19.
Before his death, Adam Petty visited a similar camp — Paul Newman’s Camp Boggy Creek. He wanted to create another camp like it that would serve ill children in North Carolina, reported the AP, and his family followed through with his wish.
“Racing put us in a position to come out and do something and it was always one of Adam’s dreams,” Richard Petty told The Associated Press last year. “When we lost Adam, the family got together and said we’d go pursue that deal.”
The AP reported that the camp highlights that “Adam’s passion for racing was equaled only by his compassion for others, especially children” and that he could often be found visiting children in pediatric hospitals.
“We had a grandson that we loved, but look at the thousands of kids (we’ve served.) ... Kyle always says when he sees one of them smile, he sees Adam smile,” Richard Petty told the AP.