Alpacas are domesticated animals that are raised for their costly
coats. They are South American camelids and are part of vicunas, llamas
plus guanacos. Alpacas' coats, which can be sheared once per year, may
be sold at high cost for use in clothing and household items. Alpaca
fibers are both better and more comfortable than wool, and they're also
hypoallergenic.
These animals are native to South America, and were at first found in
Peru, Ecuador, Bolivia and northern Chile. They are usually compared to
llamas, and for a long time, alpacas were thought to have descended
from llamas, because their appearances are similar. Some individuals
believe these animals are the offspring of llamas and vicunas. However,
in the year 2001, using DNA analysis, analysts proved that alpacas are
more closely related to the Vicuna. To reflect that similarity, the
species name for the alpaca was changed from musgo pacos to vicugna
pacos.
Today, there's about 70, 000 alpaca in the United States. At first, the
United States population was imported from South America. Today, alpaca
shall no longer be imported, and the US alpaca populace grows strictly
from local births.
A fully grown alpaca has a life expectancy of 15 years, weighs anywhere
between 100 and 180 pounds, and stands around three ft tall. The alpaca
diet includes grass, hay and oats. Alpaca are ruminants, which
indicates that like cattle and deer, alpacas are cud-chewers.
Alpacas are gentle, nevertheless they may shriek or spit if they are
anxious, worried or angry. They usually reserve this behavior for other
alpacas, but from time to time, they can aim this behavior at people.
In the event you pay attention to an alpaca, you can notify how the
animal feels, and can simply avoid a confrontation! Alpacas don't enjoy
to be held, but a lot will tolerate pampering from humans they know and
are comfortable with. Alpacas are naturally interested animals. They
cannot jump fences and they may be halter-trained and led.
In a group, these animals use a common dung heap. It will help reduce
the prevalence of disease among a herd. Because they're particular
about their bathroom practices, some alpacas have recently been house
broken!
In the past many years, a number of individuals have been considering
raising alpacas for their wool, for showing plus breeding. The
gestation time for an alpaca is around 10 months on average. Twin
alpacas are incredibly unusual, occurring in only 1 of about every 12,
000 births. Most alpacas give birth to their newborns, called cria, in
the morning.