This leaping legend might be just a humble llama, but it's also a world record holder. The highest-jumping llama in the world is a truly extraordinary, and utterly bizarre, mammal. Let's take a look.

Llamas are famous for being relatively slow-moving, big and fluffy, and covered in personality. What they're not famous for, though, is their jumping abilities. Sure, these are strong animals, but they don't have the hunkiest and most muscular legs in the business, and considering how heavy the average llama is, you wouldn't expect that it could launch itself so fantastically far into the air.

You'd be wrong, though, because llamas are surprisingly good at jumping. Indeed, this animal world record holder is the highest leaping llama in the entire world. Trust us, this is quite an extraordinary achievement!

Llamas don't usually leap. Indeed, a leaping llama is a relatively rare thing. While these magnificent mammals will usually jump small fences and the like, they are not famous for being able to gain much altitude with each successive burst of energy. After all, the humble llama is a wooly beast that's weighed down heavily, and they don't have particularly thick or muscular legs.

In general, it's good to have your llama penned in by a fence that's around 4-5 feet high. That's not because the llama will jump over the fence, but more because it will climb over it. They have long legs, after all, making them relatively mobile, but that doesn't mean that they'll be able to jump particularly high.

As a result, the popular term "leaping llama" is more of a fun use of alliteration than a real, genuine thing. That's not to say, though, that there aren't a few of these fluffy fellows who are capable of an impressive jump.

There's nothing funnier than a llama. These bizarre creatures, with their big teeth and magnificent mullets, are nothing short of absurd. It is with this in mind that an Italian TV show called "Lo Show Dei Record" decided to bring one in for a special episode. Little did he know it, but Boateng de Oro was about to make Italian, and world record, history.

Boateng came from a farm in Soprabolzano (in northern Italy) and is, by all accounts, a beautiful beast. His owner, Walter Mair, even described him as "Reserved, proud, brave, and curious." Apparently, he's a great hiker as well.

With impressively long hair and an adorably shaggy look, Boateng's extraordinary jumping abilities came out of joy rather than a need to escape. The impressively sized llama regularly jumps over horse stalls that are more than 4 feet tall and enjoys the process of jumping fences.

"He made it look so easy and effortless... He had a great time doing it, and so did we... He is a fine, majestic stallion with strong legs, great colors, an impressive fleece, and – very important – a good character."

Having established his jumping credentials at home on the farm, Boateng's humans decided that he should be put to the test. After featuring on "Lo Show Dei Record," World Guinness Records paid him a visit and declared him the highest leaping llama in the world.

So how high does a llama have to leap if a llama leap is to make records? The answer, it seems, is 4 feet and 3 inches. This remarkable record was achieved in the presence of a Guinness World Record adjudicator at Boateng's farm. It didn't take many attempts at all for him to surpass the previous record holder's 3 feet and 8.5 inches.

A limbo-style bar was placed in front of this now world-famous llama, but with a catch: good ol' Boateng de Oro needed to jump over the bar, not go under it, bringing all of his legs up above the bar before landing. His humans subsequently tried to raise the bar to 4 feet and 6 inches, but it was at this point that Boateng decided he'd rather play limbo than hurdles.

"We also tried for 1.40 m (4 ft 6 in) but that's a height where Boateng de Oro decided to show us that he isn't just sporty but also bright… why jump over it if one can easily pass under the bar? Limbo!"

No one is complaining, though, because, at a jumping height of 4 feet and 3 inches, Boateng is still an impressive world record holder.

Fully grown llamas often weigh upwards of 300–400 pounds, and, indeed, some males can weigh as much as 600 pounds. In other words: That's a lot of weight! For a llama to be able to lift that much weight off the ground is, in itself, impressive. For it to not only lift that weight but launch it so far into the air? That's a truly extraordinary achievement and one to be proud of.

Having lifted its legs 4–5 feet off the ground, Boateng de Oro certainly deserves all the praise he has garnered, not to mention his starring role on an Italian TV show. We wouldn't have thought that a llama could achieve so much - oh how wrong we were!