Alpaca

Alpacas are members of the camelid family, domesticated thousands of years ago in the Andes Mountains of South America, primarily in what is now Peru. They are closely related to llamas, vicunas, and guanacos.

Alpacas were bred first and foremost for their fiber. Their fleece is soft, warm, and comes in more natural colors, dozens by some counts, than almost any other fiber-producing animal in the world.

One distinctive feature of alpacas is their mouth. They have no upper front teeth, just a hard dental pad that works against their lower incisors, which is part of why they graze so efficiently without damaging the roots of grasses.

Alpacas are herd animals and communicate through body language and a range of soft humming sounds. A humming alpaca can be expressing anything from curiosity to mild stress, and staff who work with them closely learn to read the difference.