History of Alpacas

Alpacas and humans have co-existed for over 5000 years.  Alpaca fiber clothed royalty in the Incan civilization.  Llamas are primarily pack animals, while the alpaca is valued for its fleece. Both, however, in some instances have been used as a source of food.

After the Spanish conquest, alpacas were nearly wiped out. By some accounts, 90% of the alpaca herds were destroyed in an effort to subjugate the native peoples.  In the 19th Century alpacas were rediscovered by Europeans and played a role in the Industrial Revolution.

Alpacas are a domesticated member of the camel (camelid) family.  The camelid family also includes llamas, guanacos, and vicunas from South America, and the Bactrian and Dromedary camels from Asia and Africa.  This family of animals originated on the plains of North America about 10 million years ago.  A common ancestor to the South
American camelids migrated to South America about 2.5 million years ago.

Today there are about 3.5 million alpacas in the Andean highlands, most of which can be found in Peru.  Since the major first importation into the U.S. in 1984, the North American herd has increased from a few alpacas in zoos and private collections to about 150,000.  Alpacas are popular internationally for their luxury fiber and as pet, show, and investment animals in Canada, England, Australia, New Zealand, Poland, France, and Israel, as well as the United States.

 A major of the world's population of alpacas are in Peru, Chile and Bolivia.  The world market has been expanding dramatically and today one can find herds in Australia, Europe, Canada, and even South Africa and some Asian countries.  In the U.S. we have alpaca ranches in every state and the national herd is growing every year.  By July 2000, there were 29,856 registered alpacas and the number of owners has grown from 146 in 1991, to 2,919 in 2000. It is now reported that there are over 150,000 registered alpacas and in excess of 4,000 breeders.   The scarcity of alpacas is based on their slow rate of reproduction.  Usually females give birth to one baby at a time with a gestation period of 11 months.   Because of this slow reproductive rate, it will take a long time to drive the price of breeding stock down and top animals will always bring top dollars.  Importation of alpacas from South America is difficult, expensive due to quarantine restrictions, and the Alpaca Registry has been closed to new imports since December 31, 1998.   

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