ALPACA ORIGINS & HISTORY

Alpacas are thought to be a cross between llamas and vicunas, and have been around for some 7000 years.

Alpacas have had a turbulent history. For thousands of years, the alpaca has resided in the mists of the high Andes, treasured for its fibre by the ancient Incan herdsman. Their wealth was measured by the number of alpacas they owned. These Peruvian people clothed their nobleman and royalty in multi-coloured garments made from the fabulous fleece of these wonderful animals. A thousand years before the Roman Empire, a thriving economy existed, based on selective breeding and the production of alpacas that are thought to have even better fleeces than the finest alpacas today.

The Spanish conquest saw the decimation of the breed. The arrival of the Spanish conquistadors in the 17th century resulted in the orderly genocide of the Incan people and their alpacas. The alpaca, prized for almost 4000 years as a source of high quality fibre, was seen by the Spaniards as a competitor for grazing lands available to their sheep. The alpaca therefore became a source of meat and was slaughtered almost to the point of extinction.

The surviving Incans were driven into the highest parts of the inhospitable Andes mountains, taking their most prized alpacas with them into exile.

In the mid 1800’s, Sir Titus Salt of London “discovered” the remarkable fibre of the alpaca and began promoting its use in the finest textile mills and fashion houses of Europe. Charles Ledger was the first to import alpacas into Australia in 1858. None of these alpacas are thought to have survived.

Then in the mid 1980’s Geoff Halpin, a Victorian sheep farmer, imported a small number of these animals into Australia as the first breeding stock in modern times.

Three million alpacas exist worldwide, with over 90 percent still located in South America - Peru, Bolivia, and Chile. Today, over 60,000 alpacas are registered in Australia and the industry is growing at a rate of 17% per annum. By 2009 around 120,000 alpacas were forecast. By the year 2020 the industry predicts there will be over one million alpacas in Australia.

Alpaca Family Tree

Class: Mammalia
         Order: Artiodactyla
                    Suborder: Tylopoda
                                   Family: Camelidae
                                              Genus: Camelus, old world camelids
                                                                        Species:
                                                                        C: dromedarius, dromedary camel
                                                                        C: bactrianus, Bactrian camel
                                              Genus: Lama, South American camelids
                                                                        Species:
                                                                        L: glama, llama
                                                                        L: pacos, alpaca
                                                                        L: guanicoe, guanaco
                                              Genus: Vicugna, South American camelid
                                                                       Species:
                                                                       V: vicugna or L: vicugna, vicuna

Suborder: Ruminantia, deer, cattle, antelope, sheep, goat, gazelle

LINKS

Sunset Alpaca Stud 1764 Te Matai Road RD8 Te Puke 3188 New Zealand Ph +64 7 573 4480 info@sunsetalpacas.co.nz