I guess because it's a Spanish word, the double L makes a Y sound. Pronouncing it with an L sound is an altered English pronunciation. Also, I went to Vegas during a pandemic and I saw an art of a llama with a hat on that said ACAB. But I think there should be an art of a llama with a shirt on that says "Calling cops 'pigs' is speciesist."

Because it’s a /y/ sound in español. It actually pronounced YAH-Mah and not LAH-Mah

to frustrate and annoy childhood me

Maybe it's pronounced differently in Spanish? Double L is often used as a Y sound in that language.

Like Kate said, it’s a word in a different language which English speakers pronounce wrongly. There are millions of them. Words, that is, not llamas. Although there are millions of them too... The Welsh use a lot of double Ls in their language too, except they pronounce it as “chl” - the ch sound is guttural the same as it’s pronounced in Scotland.

The English language borrowed the name of the animal from Spanish. In Spanish the double L is pronounced like "y" as in "yes", nevertheless most people say Lama with "L" and not Yama like in Spanish. Borrowing is complicated.