The alpaca exists to produce fleece. An alpaca’s ultimate value flows from its ability to create fine, abundant fleece that is coveted by the makers of luxury garments. That is why “perfect” or “ideal,” by the Ideal Alpaca Community (IAC) definition, must first focus on fleece quality and then on conformation that is balanced and harmonious.
As breeders, we are fortunate that the fleece characteristics that make alpaca valuable in the worldwide fiber market are heritable. When mated properly, alpacas pass elite fleece traits on to their offspring. However, it is not enough that individual animals produce a high volume of quality fleece. At the end of the day, the ideal alpaca must produce quality cria with high breeding value for the desired traits. (Breeding value is the value of an individual as a genetic parent.)
When creating the ideal alpaca, it is important to emphasize the aspects of an alpaca’s appearance that indicates its health, breeding ability and production capacity. The type characteristics that breeders select for should ideally reflect the link between overall appearance, heritability, and the accepted breed standards. The characteristics of conformation and fleece, which are described below, set standards for the ideal alpaca. These standards define a highly productive animal, and set targets that will encourage breeders to make good selection decisions.
 Conformation should emphasize those traits that impact the ability to eat efficiently, walk, and reproduce easily. For instance, a good bite is critical if a female is to eat enough for both her and her cria's needs. A well-formed head tells breeders that an alpaca does not have llama blood. The legs must be correctly formed and positioned to allow the alpaca to graze pastures for sufficient time and distance to stay well nourished. A male must have large testicles to produce abundant sperm and strong back legs for use in mounting the female. Spring of ribs and a strong top line give a female the capacity to carry their young. Males, on the other hand, need spring of rib to accommodate the lung capacity necessary to chase down females.
 A well-balanced alpaca should be about as long as it is tall, fitting into an imaginary square. The head and neck make up about one-third of an alpaca's height, the body makes up one-third, and so do the legs. The neck connects to the shoulder at approximately a 45° angle to the back, which is straight, dropping off a bit at the croup. When the alpaca is alert, the neck and back form almost a 90° angle with the head slightly forward. The perfect alpaca has a harmonious appearance with four strong legs setting squarely under it. This gives it a graceful stance and a fluid gait.
 HEAD: The ideal alpaca’s head is compactly formed, of medium length, with a dense top knot and a wedge-shaped muzzle. The eyes should be oval, alert, and set well apart, protruding slightly from their sockets, giving the appearance of being large and round. They may be brown or black.1 The nose has two well-defined nostrils. The upper lip is divided and mobile. The ears are of medium length, erect and spear-shaped, pointing forward in the alert stance, and covered with short, soft hair. The jaw should be well covered with soft fleece and should fit together correctly with the lower incisors meeting the upper dental pad.
The head of the ideal suri should exhibit well-covered cheeks and a bearded chin. The suri’s fleece should begin independently locking at the forehead and continue uniformly down the neck, across the body and down the legs, finishing at the toes.
The head of the ideal huacaya should exhibit a dense crimpy top knot, which meets the cheek fiber in a tight ‘V’ at the eye. The cheeks should be well covered and the bridge of the nose should be clean. The crimp in the top knot should continue down the neck, across the blanket, and into the tail, finishing down the belly and legs.
 NECK: The neck of an alpaca is long and slender with its length in proportion to its body and legs. The ideal proportion of neck to legs to body is one-third, one-third, and one-third. The transition from back to shoulder to neck should be smooth and elegant.
FOREQUARTERS: The chest should be broad, deep, and well sprung in the rib. Ideally, the chest would be free of medullated fiber. The wither should be relatively wide where the shoulders meet, well fleshed, and well set into the shoulders forming a straight line with the back. The legs should stand square and be spaced adequately apart.
BODY: The back should be strong and the top line level across the loin continuing to the croup where it becomes convex. The loins should be broad, strong, and flat. The body condition should be well fleshed, not overweight nor underweight. The body should be about the same length as the height.
HINDQUARTERS: The rump should be broad. The tail should be straight, covered with quality fiber, and set slightly lower than in llamas. The thighs should be strong and well muscled. The height of the pin bones should equal that of the shoulders.
LEGS: The forelegs of the adult alpaca should be strong and straight. The hind legs of the adult alpaca should be straight and parallel when viewed from behind with heavy bone evident at the fetlock. When viewed from the side, the rear legs should exhibit enough angulation to be athletic. The legs should be well covered with fleece. The pasterns should be firm and upright. The feet should be neat, well formed, and bear two forward pointing toes, each carrying a long, strong toenail. (Leg conformation is best assessed as the alpaca moves.)
UDDER: The udder should produce abundant milk, exhibit four working teats, and be adequate for fostering strong and vigorous cria.
 TESTICLES: The scrotum should be well attached, relatively small, and carrying two large, even testes, about the size of small chicken eggs, each of good consistency.
HEIGHT AND WEIGHT: The ideal alpaca will exhibit ideal type at its optimum size. It has a well-balanced appearance. A mature animal should measure, at the wither, a minimum of 32 inches for females and 35 inches for males, with a minimum weight of 130 pounds for fully grown females and 165 pounds for fully grown males.
COLOR: Alpacas occur in a range of colors from white to black and shades of fawn, brown, and gray. Ideally, alpacas should have a uniform color throughout the entire fleece.
GAIT: Adult alpacas should exhibit a fluent, free stride along a parallel track, the hind feet following the front. (Juvenile alpacas often display a choppy gait, which results from their legs developing in an uneven fashion during periods of rapid growth.)
The ideal alpaca standard is weighted 70% to fleece and 30% to conformation. The following order of priority for conformation is appropriate.
- Bite, head and ears
- Testicles on male and vulva on female
- Dense, heavy bone, well-angulated, strong legs, upright pasterns, etc.
- Correct proportion
- Spring of rib
- Strong top line
The ideal alpaca has a soft, dense fleece with abundant coverage down the legs. There are two breeds of alpacas: suris and huacayas. I chose to call the suri and huacaya alpacas separate breeds based on the following definitions of a breed: 1) A race of animals within a species. Animals of the same breed usually have a common origin and similar identifying characteristics (Bourdon); and, 2) a type of animal defined by different characteristics and recognized by a particular or official breed association (Escobar). The difference between the two alpaca breeds is simply the phenotype of their fleece.
 THE IDEAL SURI FLEECE
The suri’s fleece should fall close to the body, form independent locks, move freely, and give the animal a lustrous, flat-sided appearance. The luster found in the suri’s fleece is the primary indication of the animal’s quality. In addition, the fiber should be fine, and have good handle (a more slippery hand than huacaya) with a well-nourished, almost greasy feel.
The suri’s locks have a well-defined architecture. Locks should be compact, independent (swinging out freely from the skin when the animal is in motion), uniform, and start close to the skin. Locks may be twisted, or softly curled, and should start from the forelock and continue through to the hocks. (There should be a low wave along the length of the individual fibers.) The locks should hang straight and hug the body, giving it a draped appearance. A suri, when compared to a huacaya of similar age and fiber micron count will have a longer lock (staple in huacaya) in the fleece. When the fleece is opened, the inside locks should be as well formed as the outside layer and exhibit luster beginning at their base.
Suri fiber is woven into cloth and made into coats or jackets that exhibit a warm, luxurious luster. Think of the ideal suri as producing a curtain of silk to grace its sturdy frame.
 SURI FLEECE STANDARD
Of the 70% allocated to fleece traits in the ideal suri breed standards, the following emphasis is appropriate:
- Fineness: Suri breeders should target fine animals for their breeding programs. A herd-wide average of 21 microns is an admirable goal for fineness but is surely less than the current (2003) average. (In a recent conversation with Alonso Burgos, the fleece buyer for Grupo Inca in Peru, he commented that “it was very difficult to acquire commercial quantities of fine suri fleece” and that if it “was available in sufficient quantities there would be a significant price premium and unlimited demand.” He was talking about a micron count of 18 to 20 microns.)
- Luster is the primary qualitative trait of a suri’s fleece. Luster is also heritable and should be selected for at all times. A lustrous fleece will have a slick, soft hand. Beginning at the skin, the farther the luster extends toward the tip of the lock the better. (Garments made from suri glisten and shimmer. Don Julio Barreda says, “There are three important qualities in a suri alpaca: luster, luster, and luster.”)
- Density is important to the value of the suri, and must not be sacrificed for the sake of fineness. The ideal female should carry seven to nine pounds of fleece at two years of age. Achieving this fleece weight on a herd-wide basis will be difficult. The current (2003) average for the national herd is surely much lower.
- Trueness to fleece type includes the phenotypic traits that distinguish the suri as a breed. The locks found in a suri’s fleece should be independent in nature, twist from the skin to the tip, and be uniform. The ideal lock will be solid, with substance, and be well nourished.
- Lock length: The ideal suri grows a fleece that is 20% longer than a staple of huacaya fleece grown over the same period. (If breeders were to select for lock length there may come a time when suris could be shorn twice a year.)
- Uniformity of micron count in the fleece adds value to the final product. A more uniformly (lower standard deviation) fine fleece will have a lower “spin fineness” and create cloth with a softer handle than a fabric of comparable average micron count. Uniformity of color is also of commercial importance and is especially important in the dyeing and finishing phases of textile processing. A white fleece should be free of any dark fibers and a dark fleece should be free of light fibers.
THE IDEAL HUACAYA FLEECE
 The ideal huacaya’s fleece should be fine, dense, uniform, and grow perpendicular to the skin. The fleece, which grows from individual follicles in the skin, should be made up of defined staples of crimpy “bundled” fleece. These staples should organize themselves to create a dense presentation across the animal. The huacaya alpaca should be well covered with a long, soft, uniform fleece, except on the ears and the bridge of the nose of mature animals. The muzzle and ears should be soft to the touch.
The elite alpaca has a well-defined crimp in its top knot, which continues down the neck into the blanket the belly, and on to the tail. There should be very little medullation. The fleece should be well nourished, exhibit a brightness or sheen, and be void of dull, dry, chalky fiber. Huacaya fiber is spun into luxury garments that can be worn close to the skin. The ideal huacaya will produce fleece as soft and as fine as cashmere.
HUACAYA FLEECE STANDARD
Of the 70% allocated to fleece traits in the ideal huacaya breed standards, the following emphasis is appropriate:
 Fineness is the primary determinant of fleece value. Breeders should aim for producing 19 to 22-micron fleece on two-year-old animals (second shearing). This is a lofty goal, and will not be easy to achieve on a herd-wide basis.
- Density is important to the value of the alpaca and must not be sacrificed for the sake of fineness. The ideal female should carry seven to nine pounds of fleece at two years of age. Achieving this fleece weight on a herd-wide basis will be difficult. The current (2003) average for the national herd is surely much lower.
- Crimp is a visual measure of fineness and uniformity for the breeder. The garment manufacturer also values crimp in the final product. It is important that crimp occurs over the entire fleece, in the prime blanket and in the individual staple.
- Uniformity of micron count and color in the fleece adds value to the final product. Uniformity of color is also of commercial importance especially in the dyeing and finishing phases of textile processing. (On a recent trip to Peru, I accompanied Alonso Burgos on a visit to Accoyo. He was selecting huacaya herd sires for the Grupo Inca herd, which is located near Juliaca. One of his major considerations was uniformity of color. He rejected an absolutely stunning male due to the presence of the occasional fawn fiber in the otherwise white fleece. He explained that the off-color fiber creates fabric that, when dyed, is less bright and true to color. He pointed out that it was a particular problem with pastel colors.)
 Staple length affects fleece value. The ideal alpaca will produce a minimum of 3 1/2-inch staple (un-extended) per year. (Fiber used in the worsted spinning system must be longer (+2-3/4”) than in the woolen system (-2 3/4”), and is more valuable. Alpacas have a genetic predisposition to a long staple, and this trait should be included in selection criteria. Also, the longer the average fiber, the less “ends” in the yarn and the softer the handle.)
- Brightness: Similar to luster in a suri. (A bright fleece takes dye evenly, and creates a yarn and final garment with even, clear color and a luxurious appearance. Fleece with excess medullation often appears chalky and does not take dye well.)
The interrelationships of type characteristics, heritability, and breed standards are important concepts for breeders who want to create ideal alpacas. This does not mean that every breeder needs to agree to all the details of every standard. However, by clearly defining the alpaca's major purpose, the important type characteristics, appropriate conformation, and fleece standards, breeders will go a long way toward establishing the goals necessary to sustain positive improvement on the path to the economically productive, ideal alpaca.
|
