About Alpacas

Alpacas are related to lamas, but are smaller and bred for their soft luxuriant fleece. They are gentle and intelligent and many owners report that they rapidly became adicted to these lovely animals.

Alpacas orginally come from the high altiplanas in Peru where they were developed from the indigenous wild animals by the South American Indians for their fleece. They are close relatives of llamas but are smaller with very fluffy coats.

They are herd animals and should never be kept singly as they become very distressed. Within the herd there is a strict pecking order and alpacas will spit at each other to maintain this, although they rarely spit at humans.

They will protect other animals such as sheep and chickens and their soft feet are gentle on grassland. They are easy to look after and make very good pets for anyone with a small amount of land. They can be trained to wear halters and to walk alongside someone whilst on the halter, although they should not be used as pack animals as they are not strong enough.