RED DEER, Alta. – There is more to alpacas than a pretty face framed by a fringe of bangs hiding shy, brown eyes.
For breeders like Andy Tillman of Bend, Oregon, they are valuable animals he has loved and studied for more than 20 years.
Llamas and alpacas have established themselves as genuine livestock in the United States and Canada, he says, even though their population remains small.
There are about three million alpacas in the world, most living in Peru. The U.S. has 109,000 llamas and 12,000 alpacas while Canada has about 7,900 llamas and 2,700 alpacas.
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Known throughout the industry for his research and breeding of camelids, Tillman has owned llamas for 23 years and started raising alpacas in 1991.
He wrote a book about llamas called Speechless Brothers, helped found the American and international llama associations and wrote the breed standards outline.
He worked on ranches and research stations with these animals in Bolivia and Peru in the early 1980s and is one of a handful involved in South American imports since the borders opened in 1994.
The foundation of the North American herd came from Chile.
“The Chileans have had large influences despite modest numbers because they are colored,” said Tillman during a seminar at the Legacy Classic Alpaca sale held here June 13.
There are about 325,000 colored alpacas in the world with 22 natural shades ranging from black to brown to white. Colored fleece tends to have lower weight with less curl.
The big money is still the breeders’ market. Fleece is a secondary element but it still has value – alpaca wool is worth about $1 an ounce in the U.S.
Quality fleece has density, a natural crimp and should have a low micron count, which indicates the diameter of each hair. The lower the count, the finer the fleece.
“Anything under 22 microns is exceptional,” he said.
The fibres are as long as 30 to 35 centimetres. Alpacas are like sheep and have to be shorn yearly for comfort, but care must be taken because they are susceptible to sunburn, said Tillman.
In Canada, alpacas receive a poodle cut where hair is left on the head, neck, legs and back haunches. The rest of the world cuts off all the wool from the neck down. Tillman said as people become more familiar with handling these animals, they will be slick sheared.
There are two breed types, the suri and the huchacaya (pronounced wukiyah.)
Suri alpacas make up about five percent of the alpaca population. They have long, flowing curls, referred to as pencil locks because of the way they hang down in softly curling tendrils. This wool is especially valuable as a luxury fibre because it carries a natural glowing lustre. It is often blended with merino sheep wool for luxury garments.
“Colored suris are the rarest of the rare. They are a challenge to breed. When you get color, you lose lustre,” said Tillman.
In Canada, the average fleece weight is about two kilograms compared to South Americans who collect over five kilograms per animal. This is why breeders are anxious to introduce new genetics to their herds.
“Even though they’re not pedigreed they are actually superior animals,” he said.
Chile and Bolivia don’t have a national registry but farms keep track of pedigrees. These animals have been domesticated for 6,000 years.
“There is no such thing as a wild alpaca or wild llama,” said Tillman.
These import projects are regulated and can cost millions of dollars.
Before alpacas leave South America the animals must stay in high security quarantine for five months.
To import from the United States into Canada takes another nine months, which Tillman says is a trade barrier set up by Agriculture Canada. Canada is concerned about tuberculosis but American llamas or alpacas don’t carry TB, said Tillman.
Nevertheless, imports are increasing and Canadians can upgrade the domestic herd within nine years.
“Canadians will be sitting on a gold mine,” said Tillman.
