The Alpaca: A Very Unique Animal

Alpacas are the world's finest livestock now available in the US for all to enjoy!

History:

• Alpacas date back to the Inca Indians and have always been treasured for their soft, elegant fleece. With the Spanish Conquest, alpacas were killed and displaced to make room for cattle and other animals brought from Europe to South America. As time passed, the surviving natives managed to maintain and improve the alpacas that were spared. As political turmoil, terrorism, and other pressures decayed the quality, this hardy animal and the people who had domesticated them restored the species. In the middle 80's, the US began to import significant numbers of alpacas from Chile, Bolivia, and later Peru, where more intensive selection resulted in more genetic progress. Now a population of quality animals exists here. Better nutrition and management appear to be suiting the new animals well, and they have seen significant popularity and growth as an industry.

Nature:

• The alpaca is a member of the camelid family that has evolved as a hardy animal that can survive on poor quality feed and withstand many challenges from the environment and continue to reproduce and grow fiber. These animals are resistant to many common diseases, and will develop signs only in the most severe conditions. They have herding instincts and desire to be near other alpacas, but relate to humans well.

Biology:

• Size: Alpacas weigh 10-20# at birth and 100-175# when full grown.

• Lifespan: is often 15-20 years

• Diet: Native animals live on coarse grasses; in this country we supplement with grain and micronutrients that will improve health and longevity. Their digestion is similar to that of ruminants, but their system of stomachs is somewhat different.

• Reproduction: The female is mature in 1 _ years and will carry the baby for 11 months, almost always a single birth. The newborn (called a cria), is very precocious and is usually up nursing within _ hour after birth.

Fiber:

• The highly prized fiber is very fine and has a small scale structure compared to wool, so it is warm and comfortable with little itching. There are 16 basic representative colors in alpaca fiber, and many more variations of these basic colors, which in total adds up to more than 22 natural shades.

• Most animals are sheared annually and can produce 6-10# of fiber.

• Handspinners like the fiber, and those who wear alpaca garments and have items made of alpaca attest to its soft and excellent insulating value.