Alpaca

## Description

The alpaca (Lama pacos ) is a species of South American camelid mammal. It is similar to, and often confused with, the llama. However, alpacas are often noticeably smaller than llamas. The two animals are closely related and can successfully crossbreed. Both species are believed to have been domesticated from their wild relatives, the vicuña and guanaco. There are two breeds of alpaca: the Suri alpaca and the Huacaya alpaca.

Alpacas are kept in herds that graze on the level heights of the Andes of Southern Peru, Western Bolivia, Ecuador, and Northern Chile at an altitude of 3,500 to 5,000 metres (11,000 to 16,000 feet) above sea level. Alpacas are considerably smaller than llamas, and unlike llamas, they were not bred to be working animals, but were bred specifically for their fiber. Alpaca fiber is used for making knitted and woven items, similar to sheep's wool. These items include blankets, sweaters, hats, gloves, scarves, a wide variety of textiles, and ponchos, in South America, as well as sweaters, socks, coats, and bedding in other parts of the world. The fiber comes in more than 52 natural colors as classified in Peru, 12 as classified in Australia, and 16 as classified in the United States.

Alpacas communicate through body language. The most common is spitting to show dominancewhen they are in distress, fearful, or feel agitated. Male alpacas are more aggressive than females, and tend to establish dominance within their herd group. In some cases, alpha males will immobilize the head and neck of a weaker or challenging male in order to show their strength and dominance.

In the textile industry, "alpaca" primarily refers to the hair of Peruvian alpacas, but more broadly it refers to a style of fabric originally made from alpaca hair, such as mohair, Icelandic sheep wool, or even high-quality wool from other breeds of sheep. In trade, distinctions are made between alpacas and the several styles of mohair and luster.

An adult alpaca generally is between 81 and 99 centimetres (32 and 39 inches) in height at the shoulders (withers). They usually weigh between 48 and 90 kilograms (106 and 198 pounds). Raised in the same conditions, the difference in weight can be small with males weighting around 22.3 kilograms (49 lb 3 oz) and females 21.3 kilograms (46 lb 15 oz).

## Appearance

Alpaca is a domesticated species of camelid. In fact, it is the smallest member of the camelid family, having a slim neck and body. Their heads, as well as the whole body, are slender while ears are, conversely, large and acuminate. Some alpacas have unicolorous wool, while others’ coat is varicolored, including about 22 colors: from black to white, from ginger to brown. Lower and upper incisors, along with lower canines, serve adult males as fighting teeth.

## Distribution

All the year-round, alpacas live over a vast territory, covering northern Chile, northern Bolivia, Peruvian Andes, and Ecuador. They are kept and pastured in the mountains with high altitudes.

## Behavior

Alpacas are social herd animals that live in family groups, consisting of a territorial alpha male, females, and their young ones. As a general rule, herds of alpacas are quite large, covering big territories. Alpha males, in turn, don’t refuse to render protection to a number of females and their young, taking them into the herd. However, once another male comes and overpowers the alpha male, he will straightway become the leader of the herd. And here’s where males start to rival, which brings serious fights. These rivalries are usually accompanied by shrilly and harsh noises, made by alpha males, having the purpose of warning each other as well as scaring away other alpha males from the herd. The period of alpacas’ highest activity is sunrise and sunset. Especially the young: usually, at this time of day one can observe playful behavior and increased activity of youngsters. Alpacas warn the herd about intruders by making sharp, noisy inhalations that sound like high-pitched bray. The herd may attack smaller predators with their front feet and can spit and kick. Alpacas can sometimes be aggressive, but they can also be very gentle, intelligent, and extremely observant.

## Diet

Alpacas are herbivores (graminivores). Their diet consists of grass, hay, or silage but in general, they enjoy chewing on nearly everything.

## Population

### Population number

Presently, alpacas are not included in the IUCN Red List; the overall population is not endangered. This is partly due to human care as well as not living in the wild. There are about 3.5 million individuals of alpacas around the world, 87% of which live in Peru and 9.5% in Bolivia.

### Ecological niche

Because of specific morphological characteristics, e.g. lightweight and padded feet, these animals can’t thicken the soil or damage seedlings and sprouts in their home range. Furthermore, they eat native grasses and forbs present in the ecosystem of their habitat. On the other hand, due to the ability to endure harsh extremes of temperature, alpacas help people overwinter.

## Domestication

Domestication of Alpacas began 5.000 years ago. However, their popularity is only nowadays becoming internationally acknowledged. Alpacas played a crucial role in Inca civilization and culture. Inca civilization originates from Andes Mountains in Latin America, where alpacas have always been highly valued. However, during the Spanish conquest of the region, alpacas became threatened with total extermination. Fortunately, they miraculously survived thanks to their key role and importance to inhabitants of the Andes and amazing ability to endure harsh temperature extremes, unlike all other domestic animals.

## Fun Facts for Kids

Alpaca wool is waterproof. Moreover, it can absorb moisture due to its surprising ability to simulate cotton in moisture recovery. Thanks to this, alpacas easily endure sharp temperature drops, their coat feeling lighter than wool while warmer than cotton.

Generally, there are two types of alpacas. These are suri alpacas and huacaya alpacas. Suri alpacas are covered with fiber that overgrows to the form of dreadlocks. On the other hand, huacaya alpacas are covered with a shaggy, bushy, and waved coat, just like a teddy bear. Huacyas make up 90% of all alpacas in North America.

Llamas and alpacas are easily interbred, generating a species called huarizo.

Buzzing or humming sound is what you can usually hear from alpacas. It’s a kind of musical crooning. For alpacas, humming can serve as a signal of danger, curiosity, satisfaction, anxiety, fright, distress, or just boredom.

As known, camels spit when they are angry or irritated while alpacas, being distant relatives of camels, do the same when upset.