The Alpaca is a species of the South American
camelid. It resembles a small llama in superficial appearance. Alpacas are kept
in herds that graze on the level heights of the Andes of Ecuador, southern
Peru, northern Bolivia, and northern Chile.
Alpacas and llamas differ in that alpacas have straight ears and llamas have
banana-shaped ears. Aside from these differences, llamas are on average 30 to
60 centimeters (1 to 2 ft) taller and proportionally bigger than
alpacas. Alpacas, unlike llamas, were not bred to be beasts of burden but
were bred specifically for their fiber. Alpaca fiber is used for making knitted
and woven items, as much as wool is. These items include blankets, sweaters, hats,
gloves, scarves, a wide variety of textiles and ponchos in South America, and
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 have been domesticated for thousands of years. There are no wild
alpacas. The closest living species are the wild vicuña, also native to South
America, which is believed to be the wild ancestor of the alpaca. The
alpaca is larger than the vicuña but smaller than the other camelid species. Of
the various camelid species, the alpaca and vicuña are the most valuable
fiber-bearing animals: the alpaca because of the quality and quantity of its
fiber, and the vicuña because of the softness, fineness and quality of its
coat.
Alpacas and llamas can (and do) successfully cross-breed. The resulting
offspring are called huarizo, which are valued for their unique fleece and
often have gentle temperaments and are suitable for pets.
