The alpaca and llama were both domesticated from their cousins the guanaco and the vicuna around 6,000 years ago providing food, clothing, hides, fuel (manure) and transportation for humans throughout the Andean countries of South America. With the first importation of these two camelid species to Canada in 1989 there was now the chance to build a Canadian camelid fibre industry. Importation to Canada was closed December 31, 2000 and since then only animals bred from Canadian stock can be fully registered. In 2006 there were over 18,000 registered Alpacas in Canada. The total world population of alpacas is estimated at over 3 million. To date the numbers of alpacas in Canada have not been great enough to supply fibre for a commercial industry, but there is already a thriving cottage industry with ample room for expansion moving ultimately to commercial production. To read more about these amazing animals check out
www.alpacainfo.ca
Our first Baby Dani May 2000
Training sessions!
The alpacas are very easy to halter train, especially if you start when they are young.
They can be haltered as young as 2 weeks old! These babies are six weeks old.
