Alpaca Facts

So What’s An Alpaca and What Do You Do With It?

Alpacas are members of the Camelid – that’s right – they’re related to camels, as well as llamas, and the lesser known guanacos and vicunas. They are native to the Andes Mountains of Bolivia, Chile, and Peru in South America. Alpacas were highly prized for their luxurious fleece, or fiber, which is comparable to cashmere. Alpaca was known as “the fiber of the gods” and was worn in ancient civilizations by royalty. There are 2 types of alpacas: the Huacaya (pronounced wah-ki-ya) and the Suri. Huacayas have fiber that is crimpy, or wavy, and is dense and close to the body, giving them a sort of teddy bear appearance. Suris have fiber that hangs down in pencil locks, sometimes compared to dreadlocks. There are 22 natural colors that are currently recognized by The Alpaca Registry, the national registry. There are many variations and shades to those 22 natural colors, giving a pasture an almost rainbow of colors!

They live in some pretty harsh conditions in South America. There is little pasture areas in the wild. Mostly, they live in the mountains and have to survive some very difficult situations.

The females have a gestation period of 11½ months, so there’s only one baby, known as a cria, a year. Generally, they give birth to one cria – only very rarely do they have twins, and it is even more rare that twins will survive. It was common, when alpacas were first in the US, for them to give birth during the daytime hours, usually between 10:00 am and 2:00 pm, since in the Andes, those hours would be the warmest part of the day, and the cria would have its best chance at survival. However, after about 20 years in this country, they’ve begun to adapt to our climate, which in many places is far less harsh than the climate in the mountain regions of South America. We are finding more and more that births are occurring in the wee hours of the morning, or well into the evening.

No, thankfully we do not eat alpacas in the US! Then end product of an alpaca is its fiber. Alpacas are generally shorn once a year. Suris usually are shorn every other year. Alpaca fiber is a hollow core fiber, giving it a very high insulation factor – and it is much softer than wool and not scratchy. It does not contain lanolin, so it is also hypoallergenic. The fiber can be used in several ways. It can be cleaned and hand spun into yarn, or felted and used to make such things as hats, handbags, vests, and wall hangings. Alpaca fiber can also be made into yarn by sending the fiber to a “mini mill.” Needless to say, the raw fleece, that a hand spinner would purchase to spin into yarn, would not bring as high a price as selling finished yarn. Finished goods, such as sweaters, hats, gloves, teddy bears, blankets, wall hangings, etc. are wonderful. Alpaca products are becoming more sought after as their popularity grows. There are currently only about 50,000 alpacas in the US, so the fiber market is still in its infancy – but new farms are starting up everyday. We, as breeders, are ultimately working toward a viable commercial fiber industry in this country.