Animals in high altitude conditions Report

At high altitudes, the partial pressure of oxygen is far lower than it is

at sea level, this is caused by a lower atmospheric pressure and
thus there is less oxygen in any given quantity of air. This higher
partial pressure means that oxygen dissociates more readily from
the oxyhaemoglobin into the tissues, however, it also means that in
the lungs, oxygen doesnt easily associate with haemoglobin in the
blood, which can lead to a lack of oxygen reaching the tissues. After
a certain amount of time, the body can acclimatise to a change in
altitude so that it is possible to breathe normally, to achieve this,
one of the body's hormones, erythropoietin, begins the production
of more red blood cells to cause an increase in oxygen delivery to
the muscles, however, if a person suddenly changes their altitude
by a great height, this can cause altitude sickness.
Altitude sickness is caused by not allowing your body to acclimatise
to the new level of oxygen in the air fully, and is typically caused
because of a fast change in altitude and so a sudden decrease of
oxygen reaching the tissues, which can cause nausea, dizziness a
headache and exhaustion.
Some athletes train at high altitude in order to increase their bodys
red blood cell count, and thus their ability to transport oxygen to
their muscles and tissues, resulting in increased performance. The
effects of acclimatisation at a higher altitude last for about ten to
twenty days once the athlete has returned to sea level, so last
minute training at high altitude is the most effective method.
The llama is an example of an animal that has adapted to live at
high altitudes, in the same way that humans adapt to high altitudes
the llama has a lot more red blood cells in their blood per unit
compared to other animals.