ALPACA CLAN ACRES USA

Two Species of Alpacas

The Huacaya

In the textile industry, "alpaca" primarily refers to the hair of Peruvian alpacas, but more broadly, it refers to a style of fabric originally made from alpaca hair. There are two species of alpaca. The Huacaya (woo-ki-ah) fleece forms a bundle of staples, has crimp, and grows out from the body giving the animal in full fleece, a well-rounded full look. Huacaya fleeces closely resemble those of the Merino sheep, but have a softer feel, more like cashmere.

The Suri

The Suri (surree) fleece forms pencil-lock staples, has no crimp, and falls straight down from the body like (dreadlocks) or a silk curtain, giving the animal a more slender, elegant appearance. Suri fleeces are more like the Angora goat fleece, but much finer and softer. Suri fiber is unique because of its luster. While the difference between Huacaya and Suri is unmistakable, they are physiologically alike in virtually every other respect.

The Make-Up of the Alpaca

Alpaca’s mouths have six lower incisors and no upper incisors, only a soft dental pad used for snipping at plants.  The lower incisors line up with the dental pad making their eating ability a highly efficient method for plants.  Alpaca’s incisors continue to grow their entire life.    The total number of teeth varies between male and female from 30 to 32 teeth.  The male alpaca has two additional teeth exposed and those teeth are called fighting teeth.  Fighting teeth used for fighting competing males for females can cause serious injuries.   The alpacas have a split upper lip and it is prehensile.  Each lip can be moved independently of each other and alpacas use them to investigate potential food items and draw it to the teeth.      The Llama's ears are banana shaped, and from a distance, they can resemble horns.  The Alpaca's ears are relatively short, symmetrical spear shaped, and generally quite furry.      Alpacas have two toes with a pad underneath that sustain their whole body weight.  The toes have two strong toenails that look similar to that of dogs and move freely for climbing in rocky areas.        Alpaca’s digestion differs from advanced ruminants in stomach morphology, digestion, diet selectivity.  Alpacas have a compartmentalized stomach, which is functionally similar to that of true ruminants, but have three compartments rather than four.  Rapid absorption of water and dissolved nutrients combined with an ability to maintain a better nitrogen balance than sheep means that they consume less forage per unit of body weight than other domestic species of the same production status and they can make better use of poorer quality feeds.      Both species of alpacas can have one offspring, called a cria (kree-ah), approximately eleven and a half month after insemination. Twins are very rare and normally do not survive.