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. 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?"

|