Alpacas Magazine - 2010 Spring

Spring 2010

rom blazing bright white, delicate fawns

and browns, to bays and natural jet black,

the beautiful soft fiber of the alpaca arrays

itself in 22 distinct shades of color. In Peru, the

homeland of 80% of the world’s alpacas, the herds

are largely one color. In bygone days, Peruvian

mills paid more for white fleece than other colors,

so alpaca breeders culled their colors and bred for

white. For its ability to easily take up dye, white

fiber commanded a higher price at the mill. But

when these white Peruvian animals came to North

America, they came with color genetics locked in

their DNA. Over the course of time, these colors

resurrected and, like the leaves of autumn, they are

on spectatuclar display now throughout North

America. Important as the white became to Peru,

there is an equally important color that dominates

all the North American shades. That color is green.

Internet research occasionally reveals references

to alpaca as “the green sheep,” but the story of

their eco-friendly nature is largely untold. Raising

alpacas is indeed eco-friendly, environmentally

sound, socially conscious, and offers real potential

in pursuit of agricultural sustainability. It may

seem almost counterintuitive that wearing

something luxurious as an alpaca garment

can also be earth-friendly, but it’s true.

Processed alpaca fiber is unrivaled in its

eco-friendly nature for many reasons, but first

a look at just how softly the alpaca itself treads

on the earth. On a planet with ever-diminishing

resources, we find the alpaca to be a wise

consumer. To best understand how and why,

let’s review some alpaca history and include

a little genetics as well.

This story begins in ancient times when the

alpaca branched off from other members of the

camelid family. Some of today’s better-known

camelids are camels and llamas. These cousins are

Mother Nature’s ultimate survivors and have a

well-earned reputation working hard for humans

and asking little in return. These beasts of burden,

the camel and the llama, inhabit some of Earth’s

harshest climates.

Llamas are one of the world’s oldest forms

of domestic livestock. For centuries, this beast

Twenty-two

Natural

Colors

All Green!

By Jeff Merrifield