Fast Facts About Alpacas

• Alpacas are small, easy to handle, and disease resistant.
  
  
• Alpacas are intelligent, pleasant to be around and easy to train.
  
  
• Alpacas are adaptable to varied habitat and are being successfully raised from sea level to 15,000 feet and from Australia to Alaska.
  
  
• Alpacas and llamas were domesticated several thousand years ago in South America. They were the foundation of a prosperous civilization living in the Andes mountains.
  
  
• In 1984, the first Alpacas were imported into the Unites States.
  
  
• There are two types of alpacas: the Suri which has fiber that appears to be in the form of spiral dredlocks and is silky; and the Huacaya (pronounced wa-ki-ya) which has fiber with a crimp or wavy quality that enhances its use in spinning. The suri alpaca is very rare; 90% of the alpacas in the US are Huacaya.
  
  
• Alpacas require no special fences or barns. Fences need to be able to keep out dogs and coyotes. The alpaca prefers grazing in an open pasture and a three sided enclosure is adequate for shelter.
  
  
• Alpacas are ruminants and are exceptionally efficient in utulizing the nutrients in grass.
  
  
• The gestation period for alpacas is approximately 11 1/2 months with a productive life of around 20 years. Females can be bred at 15 to 18 months.