{"id":1254,"date":"2020-09-15T09:30:58","date_gmt":"2020-09-15T09:30:58","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/wile.ee\/alpakadest\/"},"modified":"2020-09-24T08:21:18","modified_gmt":"2020-09-24T08:21:18","slug":"about-alpacas","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/wile.ee\/en\/about-alpacas\/","title":{"rendered":"About alpacas"},"content":{"rendered":"
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An alpaca (Vicugna pacos<\/em>) is a domesticated<\/a> species of South American<\/a> camelid<\/a>. It resembles a small llama<\/a> in appearance.<\/p>\n

There are two breeds of alpaca; the Suri alpaca<\/a> and the Huacaya alpaca<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Alpacas are kept in herds that graze on the level heights of the Andes<\/a> of southern Peru<\/a>, western Bolivia<\/a>, Ecuador<\/a>, and northern Chile<\/a> at an altitude of 3,500\u00a0m to 5,000\u00a0m above sea level, throughout the year.]<\/sup> Alpacas are considerably smaller than llamas, and unlike llamas, they were were bred specifically for their fibre. Alpaca fiber<\/a> is used for making knitted and woven items, similar to wool<\/a>. The fibre comes in 22 natural colors.<\/p>\n

An adult alpaca generally is between 81\u201399 centimetres in height at the shoulders. They usually weigh 48\u201384 kilograms.<\/p>\n

Alpacas have been domesticated for thousands of years and its closest living relative, the vicu\u00f1a<\/a><\/em> (also native to South America<\/a>), are believed to be the wild ancestor of the alpaca. The alpaca is larger than the vicu\u00f1a, but smaller than the other camelid species.<\/p>\n

Along with camels<\/a> and llamas<\/a>, alpacas are classified as camelids<\/a>. Of the various camelid species, the alpaca and vicu\u00f1a are the most valuable fiber-bearing animals.<\/p>\n

Alpacas are too small to be used as pack animals. Instead, they are bred exclusively for their fiber and meat. Alpaca meat was once considered a delicacy by Andean inhabitants. Because of the high price commanded by alpaca on the growing North American alpaca market, illegal alpaca smuggling has become a growing problem.<\/p>\n

Alpacas and llamas can successfully cross-breed. The resulting offspring are called huarizo<\/a><\/em>, which are valued for their unique fleece and gentle dispositions.<\/p>\n

Alpacas are social herd animals that live in family groups consisting of a territorial alpha male<\/a>, females and their young. Alpacas warn the herd about intruders by making sharp, noisy inhalations that sound like a high-pitched bray. The herd may attack smaller predators with their front feet, and can spit and kick.<\/p>\n

Not all alpacas spit, but all are capable of doing so.<\/p>\n<\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"parent":0,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-1254","page","type-page","status-publish","hentry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/wile.ee\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/1254","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/wile.ee\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/wile.ee\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wile.ee\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wile.ee\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1254"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/wile.ee\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/1254\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/wile.ee\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1254"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}