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ALPACA
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Alpaca:
Phylum: chordates
Class: Mammalia
Subclass: Eutheria
Order: ARTIODACTYLA
Suborder: Pecora
Family Camelidae
Genus: Lama
Species: pacos
Scientific name: Lama pacos
Common name: Alpaca
Features
Auquenidos is a tame, is smaller than the flame, his body is covered with abundant wool. The adult is 1.60 meters in height and weighs 70 to 85 kilograms.
Habitat and Behavior
Its current geographical distribution extends from Ecuador (newly introduced) until Poopo Lake in Bolivia, with a minimum number of animals in northern Chile and Argentina.
The predominant habitat is above the 3500 meters above sea level, can live up to twenty years. The pregnant female may induced by heat, being able to have offspring over the years, but usually stop in the rainy months of December through February. Gestation lasts 11.5 months and never give birth twins.
There are two races:
The Huacaya, which features a fleece similar to sheep Corredale composed of fine fibers about 24 microns perpendicular to the body, good length and presence of undulations;
The Suri, which is characterized by the fleece as the sheep of Lincoln with the smallest fibers huacaya, grouped espiriladas fuses or kale, which grow parallel to the body.
It feeds, like the vicuña, succulent plant, but unlike the latter is more concerned to herbaceous plants to grass.
Just browse when extreme necessity.
The color of the fiber is varied, although more uniform than that of the Flame; goes from white to black, with shades of light brown, dark gray and silver, all of them as natural colors.
The resulting fleece can be single or mixed colors showing high variability in the color of their fibers, average diameter, length, tensile strength, elasticity, flexibility, etc..
Importance
It is seldom used as beasts of burden, rather being bred for meat and fiber production.
It is a mammal adapted to the height that supports good frost and has many advantages compared to cattle introduced as cattle and sheep.
For example, their wool is very fine and insulator, the milk has more protein than the cow and the meat less cholesterol.
The Alpacas are native to the Andean where, for thousands of years, are being exploited by people who have settled in the valleys and mountains, there are numerous examples of his relationship with the man in monuments and museums in the area.
The exploitation of alpacas began in Europe around 1850 by the hand of Sir Titus Salt. Soon began to flourish a large textile industry mainly based on wool imported from Peru.
Alpaca breeding, out of their natural environment in the Andes, United States starting in the mid-80s.
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