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Aussie
Alpacas are bred for their curly wool, which is very valuable. It is about 12x more valuable than sheep's wool.
Alpacas are bred for wool and are in two breeds: Suri with long dreadlocks of silky wool and Huakaya, pronounced wak-ae-er, with curly wool. Both sorts of wool are finer and more valuable than sheep's wool.
Alpacas, like Llamas, Guanacos and Vicunas, are Camelids. Like Camels they have two toes with padded feet and toe-nails; they have 3 stomachs; long eye lashes; 3 sets of eye-lids and unique blood cells.
Alpacas wool is the highest priced of all wools, having been bred for their wool without the Llamas cover hair for hundreds of years. A fleece of Alpaca wool is worth about £12 for the same weight - 2kg - as a sheep, whose wool is worth about 50p. However the Alpaca is more difficult to shear, so most of that value goes to the shearer.
In this country Alpacas are largely kept as pets, and like cats and dogs, the highest quality ones are the most valuable. In their native South America they, like guinea pigs, are also eaten.
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