It's not a new fad. Alpacas have been around for thousands of years. They are thought to be perhaps the world's oldest domesticated animal, with records going back 6,00 years. The recent imports into the United States, going back just twenty years, are a mere drop in the bucket in comparison. So any discussion about the long term worth of these animals has to take into account thier lengthy history in the world.
In South America, the early Incas considered thier Alpacas as reserved for Royalty. The fiber considered so special in its luxurious softness that only Kings and the Royal Family could wear it. The count of the King;s herd being a measure of his power and wealth, eventually the entire economy revolved around the Alpacas. Later cultural changes allowed each family to raise thier own herd as their primary source of warm clothing and sustenance. With the coming of the Spaniards came strife and conflict as the Conquistadors attempted to subjugate the native people by destroying the Incan way of life and thier entire economic system. It seems the plan was to strike at the heart of the economy by killing all the Alpacas.
Beyond just conquering the native peoples thier was an additional benefit ti the Spanish explorers in exterminating the Alpacas. Recognising the qualities of softness and warmth in the Alpacas fiber as a keen source of competition for thier own herds of the then-newly-developed Merino Wool sheep (the first soft wool in Europe) they were motivated to eleminate the Alpacas for economic reasons: They wanted to corner the world's fiber market. Thier attempt to wipe out all the Alpacas nearly suceeded. But the few remaining Indians retaliated by moving the even fewer remaining Alpacas high up into the Andes mountains to hide them and keep them out of reach of the marauding Spaniards. The herds that once numbered in the millions were now decimated and counted only in the thousands, perhaps only hundreds. But the Alpacas were saved. Grown back slowly over time by native Indians, Alpaca herds in the Antiplano regions of South America now number in the millions again. More than 3 million are grazing in Peru, Bolivia, and Chile. And large mills process the annual cut of Alpaca fiber, producing high end clothing goods and forming a major component of the western South America economy.
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History
RTA Kaden's Angel- Born May 2011, 1/2 Accoyo, $3000
1st born out of our Rocket, Sirrus is a big girl, 23# at birth, full Peruvian, $1500
