Alpaca Facts & Information

Countries of Origin 
From South America where they graze at an altitude of 3 - 4000 metres on the Andes Mountains Altiplano, which runs through Peru, Chile, Bolivia and Argentina.

Population
Approximately three million worldwide, with over 90 percent still living in South America. Approximately 90 percent of all alpacas are huacaya and ten percent are suri.

Size 
Alpacas are small gentle animals. They stand about 0.9 metres at the withers and about 1.5 metres at the head and weigh from 45 to 80 kilograms. Crias normally weigh 6 to 8 kg at birth.

Lifespan 
15 to 20 years, with some living to 25 years of age.

Reproductive lifespan of female 
From approximately 2 to17 years.

Reproductive lifespan of herdsire 
From approximately 3 to16 years.

Gestation period
11 to 12 months. Healthy females can produce cria approximately once each year. Twins are extremely rare.

Annual Growth rate of fleece
80 to 150 mm.

Weight of fleece
A junior (first fleece) is often about 1.5kg. Some mature individuals can yield up to 8kg.

Physical Characteristics
• Huacaya fiber is short, dense, crimpy and gives a woolly appearance
• Suri fiber is silky and resembles pencil-like locks
• Short and low set tail
• Have soft padded feet with two toes
• Do not have horns, hooves or claws, incisors, or upper teeth
• Eat grass and chew cud
• Weight between 150 and 200 lbs.
• Average height is 36 inches at the withers
• Have three stomachs
• Adaptable to any climate

History
• Members of the Camelid family (Vicuna, Guanco, Llama and Alpaca)
• Native to Andean Mountain range of South America
• Primarily found in Peru, Bolivia, and Chile
• Provided clothing and transportation to the Incas
• First imported in the United States in 1984
• Domesticated for over 5,000 years
• Current figures note about 50,000 registered alpacas in the U.S.

Reproduction
• Average lifespan of an alpaca is about 20 years
• Gestation is 11.5 months.
• Female alpaca normally gives birth, without assistance, in the daylight hours
• Baby alpacas are called crias
• Have single births.

Behavior
• Alert, intelligent, curious, and predictable
• Social animals that seek companionship
• Communicate by softly humming
• Also communicate with neck posturing, ear and tail positioning and head tilt
• Deposit their odorless bean-like pellets in concentrated areas

Care
• Sheared without harm every 12 to 18 months
• Require minimal fencing. They can be pastured at 5-10 per acre
• Virtually disease-resistant animals
• Require annual vaccinations with tetanus and other locally appropriate vaccines
• Need routine parasite control
• Need occasional nail and/or teeth trimming

End Products
• Main end-product is fiber
Alpaca Fiber
• is unusually strong and resilient. The strength is not diminished as it becomes finer, making it an ideal material for garments of all kinds.
• can be lower than 16 microns, human hair is often 100 microns, and sheep wool commonly 30 to 60 microns (superfine sheep wool is about 16 microns).
• has more thermal capacity than that of almost any other animal. The fiber is made up of scales which contain microscopic air pockets which give it high insulation value.
• more lustrous with miniscule amounts of lanolin so it is not greasy and can be shorn and spun the same day.
• is soft, smooth and supple to the touch. The structure of the fiber produces a soft handle, or feel, with very little ‘prickle’ - softer and lighter than cotton balls to touch.
• has outer scales which are hard, flat cells which do not fit together evenly. The edges of these cells point away from the shaft of the fiber giving the fiber a serrated edge and allowing the fibers to grip together to form a strong and resilient yarn.
Softness is determined by scale height and frequency.
• found in twenty two basic colors and is the only pure black natural fiber. From white to jet black with browns, reds, greys and fawns found in between. Colours can range from brilliant white to the deepest black with all shades of grays including rare rose gray, to browns, fawns, and reds.
The eight basic colors are white, fawn, caramel (light brown), black, gray, brown (coffee), red, and piebald (colored blanket on a white body).
There are also many types of shading which do not fall into the twenty two basic colors identified by the international textile industry.