The Alpaca (Vicugna pacos) is a
domesticated species of
South American camelid. It resembles a small
llama in superficial appearance.Alpacas are kept in herds that graze on the level heights of the
Andes of Ecuador, southern
Peru, northern
Bolivia, and northern
Chile at an altitude of 3500 to 5000 meters above sea-level, throughout the year. Alpacas are considerably smaller than
llamas, and unlike them are not used as beasts of burden but are valued only for their fiber. Alpacas only have fleece fibers, not woolen fibers, used for making knitted and woven items much as sheep's wool is. These items include blankets, sweaters, hats, gloves, scarves, a wide variety of textiles and
ponchos in South America, and sweaters, socks and coats in other parts of the world. The fiber comes in more than 52 natural colors as classified in Peru, 12 as classified in Australia and 22 as classified in America. Alpacas and llamas differ in that llamas have banana shaped ears and long tails and alpacas have straight ears and stubby tails. Aside from these differences, llamas are on average 1-2 feet taller and proportionally bigger than alpacas.
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