Alpaca

activity

Activity patterns. The daily routine or activity pattern of indigenous Alpaca family flocks is quite consistent. After having spent the night in a stone corral or next to the family house (usually a stone hut called a choza), the animals are released or move out on their own to graze for the day soon after sunrise. While the family’s sheep flock is tended by a herder, the Alpaca flock is not accompanied by a herder. Instead, its daily movements and activity patterns while grazing are self-directed within 1 - 2 km of their home base to local bofedales and other feeding areas of their choice. As sunset approaches, the flock returns to the home site by themselves without being escorted by a herder. Daytime activity budgets (percentage of time) of Alpacas compared to sheep while both species grazed on native-Andean pasture dominated by the favorable forage Festuca dolichophylla, have shown that while other activities were similar, Alpacas fed more (71 % vs. 57 %) and rested less (11 % vs. 25 %) than sheep.

Camelidae

biology_ecology

Habitat. Alpacas are raised in the Andean highlands; regionally known as the Altiplano and Puna. The Puna ecosystem is rolling grassland and isolated wetlands typically at c. 3500 - 5200 m altitude with two marked periods: the rainy season from October to April and the dry season from May to September. Most (75 %) precipitation falls from November to March in the form of both hail and rain. In Peru the annual precipitation varies from 800 mm in the south to 1200 mm in the central mountains. The mean annual temperatures are less than 10 ° C and nocturnal frosts are common, especially during the dry season. Diurnal fluctuations can be as much as 20 ° C in the mesic Altiplano and even greater in the dry or desert Altiplano. The short growing season, as determined by moisture and night-time cloud cover, occurs between December and March. Vegetation is dominated by herbaceous grasses and forbs. Few trees exist and shrubs are only locally abundant. Perennial bunchgrasses are common including the genera Festuca, Poa, Stipa, and Calamagrostis, as well as the grass-like sedges Carex and Scirpus. High-quality forage is more abundant during the rainy season and scarcer during the remainder of

Camelidae

biology_ecology

Movements, Home range and Social organization. Seasonal patterns of Alpaca movement are determined by herders as influenced by the availability of forage, varying from one locality to next. One common annual movement of Alpacas in the Andes is to graze herds during the rainy season (generallyJanuary to April) in lower mountains (3600 - 4100 m) areas characterized by pampas, slopes, and rounded ridges. Then in the dry season (generally May to December) they are moved up to the high altitudes (4100 - 5200 m) to find favorable forage, bofedales, and water. When the rainy season begins, they are moved back to lower areas where grasses are beginning to grow and to avoid severe hailstorms and other weather at higher altitudes. Herders, however, without access to two seasonal sites maintain their animals in the same area year-round. Indigenous families that raise livestock in the Peruvian Andes on the average have 70 Alpacas (30 - 120), 30 Llamas (4 - 50), and 50 sheep (10 - 80). More importance is placed upon Alpacas because they offer greater economic diversity. Most (90 - 95 %) of the Alpaca woolis sold, the balance used for home use. Many of the young males one to two years old are so

Camelidae

breeding

Breeding. Alpaca females in Peru reach puberty at 60 % (33 - 40 kg) of their adult weight, or at c. 12 - 14 months of age when being grazed on native pastures. Although such young females exhibit sexual behavior, ovulation, fertilization, and embryonic survival similar to adults, most breeders waitto first breed females at two years of age when they have reached greater physical maturity. Male Alpacas in Peru are first used for reproduction at two to three years of age, because the penis is still adhered to the prepuce in one- (84 %) and two-year-olds (50 %), with all males adhesion free at three years old. The rate of detachment is dependent upon the level of testosterone secreted from the testes. The breeding season is from January to April using several different husbandry techniques. If the females are unfamiliar with the breeding male, they most likely will not accept him. Such males become familiarized by staying with the females in the same stone corral or encircled together by rope for a number of hours each day for 20 days; pregnancy rate is as high at 85 % using this method. The most common technique is to run four to six breeding males per 100 females together, year-roun

Camelidae