An alpaca is a domesticated South American camelid known for its fluffy and soft fleece. Alpacas are members of the camelid family, which also includes llamas, guanacos and vicuñas. They are native to the high altitudes of the Andes Mountains in South America, particularly in Peru, Bolivia, Ecuador and Chile. Peru is currently the world’s biggest producer of alpaca fleece.
“After the intrusion of Spanish conquistadors around 1530 [in South America], sheep and other European livestock were brought into South America, and the Andean people with their alpacas were pushed high up into Andes, where they have predominantly remained to this day. The ‘push’ to higher altitudes was the result of mass slaughter of not only thousands upon thousands of alpacas, but of the Inca people as well as their king. The introduction of
