Discovery Alpacas: About Alpacas

History
Alpacas are members of the Camelid family and originate from the Andean countries of Peru, Chile and Bolivia where they live high on the altiplano, usually at 4000 metres and above. It is recognised that the alpaca is the domesticated descendant of the Vicuna, which produces the finest fibre in the world. The domestication of the alpaca began some five thousand years ago providing the Andean people with clothing, food and the dried dung, being used as fuel.

Fleeces
Alpacas are kept for their fine fleeces, which is soft, lightweight and lustrous, comparable to cashmere for luxury. It comes in 22 natural colours from pure white to various shades of fawn, brown and grey, through to rich black. There are two types of alpaca, the Huacaya, which is the most common type of alpaca in the UK and the Suri. The Huacaya has a dense woolly fleece made up of crimped staples giving it a more heavily fleeced sheep-like appearance. The Suri has more the look of an Angora goat with long 'locks' which hang down loose and long and has no crimp.

Temperament
The alpaca is extremely hardy and adapts well to the British climate. Alpacas are very intelligent and can easily be trained to walk on a halter. They are very gentle natured animals, making them safe to be around young children. Alpacas are very relaxing to be with, listening to the gentle communicating humming sound that they make to one another. They warn each other off by spitting, but rarely spit at humans unless they feel threatened or mishandled.

Why own alpacas?
Alpacas are kept for various reasons. Some people have a couple of pet quality males just to keep down the paddock and as a bit of a hobby, others want to set up an enterprise based on fibre production and breeding.

The Future Market
The future of the alpaca in the UK is reliant on the future market for its fibre product as there is currently an insufficient supply of alpaca fleece in this country. It is essential for growers to concentrate on improving the quality of their fibre to ensure that the UK is competitive with the rest of the world. There will always be a demand for natural fibres and alpaca fibre has the qualities to be amongst the most popular.