About the alpaca 

While llamas are increasingly well-known in this country for their use as pack animals or guard animals, their cousin, alpacas, are just beginning to be more widely recognized. They are smaller than llamas and therefore are not generally used as pack animals, but have the most amazing fiber characteristics that make alpaca wool highly sought after in the textile industry, high fashion industry, and by handspinners. The fiber is soft and fine as cashmere or merino wool, but at the same time very strong and warm. The wool is hollow inside providing insulating properties like a thermos. It can be spun very fine and thin and still be fantastically warm. It accepts dye easily and blends well with other fibers. Suri fiber especially has the lustrous shine of silk.

Each year at shearing time, their fleece is shorn and it regrows over the next year. The fur across the back and sides is the softest part of the fleece called the "blanket." Each year, the shorn fiber might weigh anywhere from three to twelve pounds, depending on the age and fleece growth.

Suris originated on the western slopes of the Andes mountains in South America. They were first imported into the United States in 1991. In the late 1990's, the American alpaca registry (ARI) closed to new imports to protect the American market. All of Suri Peak's alpacas are registered with ARI.

There are two types of alpacas: huacayas and suris. These types differ in their body style and fiber characteristics. Huacayas make up approximately 80% of the registered US alpaca population while suris make up the other 20%. The comparative rarity of the suri tends to make them more valuable than huacayas.

The suri alpaca body style is long, stretchy and elegant compared to the more compact, woolly look of the huacaya. Suri fiber hangs in locks that drape down the sides. While huacaya fiber is crimpy and give the alpaca a more sheepish look. And suri fiber has luster -- an exquisite, silky shine.

For more information on suris, be sure to read the article, "What are Suris?"