Why alpaca is a good choice for South Africa

While most commonly produced in South America, the alpaca's grazing habits and adaptability to diverse climates make it an attractive option for farmers wishing to diversify production, reports Janine Ryan.

- Janine Ryan

An alpaca is a domesticated South American camelid known for its fluffy and soft fleece. Alpacas are members of the camelid family, which also includes llamas, guanacos and vicuñas. They are native to the high altitudes of the Andes Mountains in South America, particularly in Peru, Bolivia, Ecuador and Chile. Peru is currently the world’s biggest producer of alpaca fleece.

“After the intrusion of Spanish conquistadors around 1530 [in South America], sheep and other European livestock were brought into South America, and the Andean people with their alpacas were pushed high up into Andes, where they have predominantly remained to this day. The ‘push’ to higher altitudes was the result of mass slaughter of not only thousands upon thousands of alpacas, but of the Inca people as well as their king. The introduction of European animals brought diseases hitherto unknown to the South American continent.

“Peru’s Quecha peoples are custodians of a vast alpaca population where a pastoral life exists above the tree line at around 3 000m above sea level. Alpacas were very special to the Andean people, [as] they provided all the fibre for their clothing as well as being used for weaving their stories into tapestries that still exist today,” says the South African Alpaca Breeders’ Society.

An alpaca is a ruminant, like sheep and cattle. The website Bella Paga says alpacas are grazers, and feed on pasture. However, they can also eat hay. On average, the alpaca eats between 1,5kg and 2kg of feed/day. When gestating, however, says Bella Paga, the female alpaca can eat up to 3kg/day.

According to the Smithsonian National Zoo, alpacas are slender-bodied, with long legs and necks, small heads and large, pointed ears.