It continues to be highly prized today, being used for luxury apparel. A high-quality alpaca sweater can cost hundreds of dollars and an alpaca coat, thousands. Alpacas are quite rare, with only about 12,000 on the North American continent today. However, it is an increasing population, have risen from about 5,000 in 1993. There are some animals that sell even higher, but these are generally herdsires who have proven their ability to pass along highly desirable characteristics to their offspring.
Alpacas are perhaps the world's gentlest creatures with a great affinity for children.
Rather than hooves, they have pads on their feet similar to a dog's, with only two toenails. Instead of upper incisor teeth, they have only a hard pallet, so they cannot crop grass as closely to the ground as sheep or goats. These appealing animals are easy to care for and have minimal space requirements, with five to ten fitting nicely upon one acre. They are shorn once a year to harvest their fiber, which offers lots of opportunity for owners to try their hands at spinning, weaving, felting, etc. There is also a national co-op to assist in marketing the fiber, as well as numerous fiber festivals in every region.