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Alpaca

Lama pacos

CLASS: Mammalia|
ORDER: Artiodactyla
FAMILY: Camelidae
GENUS: Lama
SPECIES: pacos

The alpaca is a domesticated member of the camel family that lives in South America. Its thick wool coat enables it to survive in the below-freezing temperatures of the high plains of the Andes.

The alpaca is farmed for its wool, which helps to insulate the animal and keep it warm at high altitudes. It has long been believed that the alpaca was bred from the wild guanaco, a related South American species. But recent information suggests that the alpaca was derived from a cross between the domesticated llama and the vicuna.

Habitat

The alpaca has been domesticated and is no longer truly wild. But alpacas graze freely over the high mountains, forests, and coastal plains of Peru, Bolivia, Argentina, and Chile.

The alpaca is farmed in the greatest numbers on the Peruvian altiplano, or high plain, which is about 12,500 feet above sea level. The natural vegetation there is tussock grass, but some farmers have begun to improve the pasture to increase the productivity of their alpacas.

The alpaca is also numerous high in the Andes mountains, where the vegetation is sparce, the terrain rough, and the air very thin. The temperature there can vary as much as 86 degrees between day and night, and the yearly rainfall is between on and three feet.

Breeding

The wild relatives of the alpaca live in groups made up of an adult male, several females, and young. These families sometimes form larger groups. In each group only the dominant male mates with the females.

Breeding of domesticated alpacas is controlled. Males and females are usually separated, and only selected males are allowed to breed. Nonbreeding males are castrated, which eliminates their sex drive and prevents them from fighting.

The alpaca mates in August and September. One offspring is born after about 11 months. It may put on 45 pounds in the first nine months and grows quickly until it is three years old.

The females usually breed only every other year. The alpaca’s reproductive rate is not high because there are many miscarriages and many young die from food shortages and the demands of life at a high altitude.

Alpaca & Man

The alpaca was first bred by the Incas about 500 B.C. and has been bred ever since for its wool, meat, skin, and milk. Its manure is used for fuel.

Increasingly, however, the alpaca is being farmed purely as a wool producer. Peru supplies almost all of the world’s alpaca fiber, exporting 90 percent of it. The wool that is not exported is woven into ponchos, blankets, and rope.

As demand for its wool increases, the alpaca is replacing the llama as South America’s most important domestic animal. The llama’s role as beast of burden is declining with increased use of cars and trucks.

Food & Feeding

The alpaca, like other members of the camel family, has a divided top lip. With this lip and its continually growing lower teeth, the alpaca can graze on the tough grass it must eat to survive.

It grazes in small groups, moving slowly and searching for the most tender shoots. Food is often scarce, but the alpaca can survive on very little. In the winter, farmers may provide additional fodder, such as grass or alfalfa hay.

The alpaca feeds by day and sleeps at night. Twice a day it sits down to chew the cud, regurgitating partly digested food and chewing it over again. When the food is swallowed again, it passes through the animal’s second and third stomachs. This process of rechewing and reswallowing food is called rumination and extracts maximum nutrition from poor grazing.

NOTES

• The camel family is the only mammal family with oval (not rounded) red blood cells.
• The alpaca and its relatives walk on pads at the end of their toes instead of their hooves so they can travel easily over rocky ground.
• The alpaca and its South American relatives have a high number of red blood cells, so they can extract enough oxygen from the thin mountain air.
• The alpaca interbreeds successfully with all other South American camels but only mates freely with the llama.
• The alpaca has been a valuable domesticated animal for over 2,000 years.
• There are currently more than three million alpacas, and their numbers are rising as interest in farming them grows.

Last Update:Wednesday, July 13, 2005 at 12:44:00