ZooNooz Article - march 2004

Alpaca

Alpacas are one of four members of the camel family that are native to South America. The others are Llamas, which are also domesticated, and the two wild species, Guanacos and Vicunas. The rest of the family, Arabian and Bactrian Camels, live in Africa and Asia.

Story by ANDREW PARNELL
Photograph Michael Nicholson
Illustration Ngaire Sales

While their origins are unclear, it is widely believed Alpacas were bred about 4,000-6,000 years ago from Guanacos, which weigh about twice as much, possibly crossed with the much smaller Vicuna. They weigh between 55kg and 65kg, and stand up to 1.5m tall, with long necks and ears.

Almost all Alpacas these days are domesticated, primarily living with the native people of the Andes, in Peru, Bolivia and Chile and providing them with meat and wool. Unlike Llamas they were never used as beasts of burden. There are over 3 million Alpacas in South America, which accounts for almost 99 percent of the world population.

Soft touch

Alpaca

Alpacas were originally bred for their wool, which, along with that of the Llama, is the finest produced by any animal and was used to make robes worn by Incan royalty. In recent years there has been a growing demand for Alpaca fleece, and this led to the establishment of Alpaca farms in the United States and Canada in 1984, and Australia and New Zealand in 1989. By 2001 it was estimated there were 40,000
Alpacas in Australia.

There are two types of Alpaca: huacaya (pronounced wua'ki'ya), which is by far the most common, and suri (soo'ree). The wool of the huacaya grows like that of sheep, straight out from the body, but is straighter, silkier and much stronger. Suris' fleece hangs down, so their body looks as though it is covered in dreadlocks! The wool is up to 500mm long and is soft, warm, light and strong. It can be white, grey, brown, black or any combination of these colours.

The high life

The Andes are an immense mountain range running down the entire western side of South America. Alpacas live at elevations of up to 4,800 metres where they have to endure extreme climatic conditions: burning hot sun during the day and sub-freezing conditions at night. A key reason they can live so successfully at high altitudes, where many animals would struggle to function due to lack of air, is that their blood is capable of carrying exceptionally high levels of oxygen. They also have thick, light, coats and the ability, like camels, to conserve body water.

Alpacas eat mostly grasses, although they also graze on low shrubs, mosses and lichens. They have teeth on their bottom jaw only, and use their lips, assisted by a split upper lip, to pull grass into their mouths. Like cows, Alpacas are ruminants and regurgitate undigested food, or cud, so they can break it down further by chewing and then returning it to another of their three stomachs. This aids digestion and importantly, given their harsh environment, maximises the nutrients they obtain from their food.

However, unlike other ruminants, they have well-padded feet rather than hooves. This minimises the impact they have on the grass and allows it to regenerate more quickly. Another distinguishing feature of the camel family compared with other ruminants is that they don't have antlers or horns.

Spitting image

Females (called mares) reach sexual maturity between 12 and 18 months, while for males (stallions) it is 18 months to three years. While stallions and mares most often mate in spring, they can reproduce at any time of the year. Baby Alpacas are called 'crias' and are born about 11 to 12 months after mating. Usually a single cria, weighing from 6-8kg, is born, with twins occurring very rarely. Most births occur during the day and most crias are on their feet and suckling in only two or three hours. They generally suckle for five to six months and stay near their mother for up to a year. Interestingly, if Alpacas and Llamas breed, the offspring, called 'muchurga', are sterile.

Alpacas prefer to live in herds of the same sex, and where possible males will join male herds when they are a year old. In Australia they live in herds of up to 400. They are very protective towards their herd and some Australian farmers have taken advantage of this by putting them in paddocks with sheep and goats where they can provide effective protection from foxes.

While Alpacas are generally very gentle animals, they sometimes bite, kick with their rear legs, or spit their regurgitated food when annoyed or threatened. Spitting and kicking is most commonly used to establish the pecking order in the herd, and by pregnant females to deter males.

You can get a strong indication of an Alpaca's mood by watching its ears. If they are held high the animal is likely to be alert and curious; if its ears are back, it is relaxed. The behaviour to watch out for is when their ears are flattened
to their necks and their chin raised - this is when they are angry and most likely to spit!

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